L.r'wnTi|j|ri",'r'  t  1  "i'  r  i   i  i  i  i  |i  ii   iii    i  m  i  t-i|-           i  y  i  i|     i  |i  'ni'i|i'i|jn mh^i    fin  i 


I 

Mm 

m 

mm 


I  ART  TEXT-BOOKS 

EDITED  BY 

E.J.POYNTER.R.A  % 


*  1 


8 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  § 
IN  ENGLAND 

BY  GILBERT. R. REDG 


Si 


7f 


to: 


ILLUSTRATED    HAND-BOOKS   OF  ART 
EDITED  BY  EDWARD  J.    POYNTER,  R.A.. 

AND 

OTHER   WRITERS  ON  ART. 

WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING 
IN  ENGLAND. 

BY   GILBERT  R.  REDGRAVE. 


ILLUSTRATED    HAND-BOOKS   OF  ART. 


EDITED  BY 

EDWARD    J.    POYNTER,    R.A.,    AND  OTHERS. 
Each  in  crown  8vo,  cloth  extra,  per  volume,  5s. 

PAINTING  ; 

CLASSIC    AND    ITALIAN.    By  Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.A., 

and  Percy  R.  Head,  B.A.  Including  Painting  in  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome,  and 
Pompeii;  the  Renaissance  in  Italy  ;  Schools  of  Florence,  Siena,  Rome,  Padua, 
Venice,  Perugia,  Ferrara,  Parma,  Naples,  and  Bologna.  Illustrated  with  80  En- 
gravings of  many  of  the  finest  Pictures  of  Italy. 

GERMAN,  FLEMISH,  AND     DUTCH.    By  H.  J.  Wilmot 

Buxton,  M.A.,  and  Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.A.  Including  an  account  of  the 
Works  of  Albrecht  Diirer,  Cranach,  and  Holbein  ;  Van  Eyck,  Van  der  Weyden,  and 
Memlinc  ;  Rubens,  Snyders,  and  Van  Dyck ;  Rembrandt,  Hal-;,  and  Jan  Steen  ; 
Wynants,  Ru-sdael,  and  Hobbema  ;  Cuyp,  Potter,  and  Berchem  ;  Bakhuisen,  Van  de 
Velde,  Van  Huysum,  and  other  celebrated  Painters.  Illustrated  with  100  Engravings. 

SPANISH    AND    FRENCH.    By  Gerard  Smith,  Exeter  Coll. 

Oxon  Including  the  Lives  of  Ribera,  Zurbaran,  Velazquez,  and  Murillo  :  Pou<sin, 
Claude  Lorrain,  Le  Sueur,  Watteau,  Chardin,  Greuze,  D\vid,  and  Prud'hon  ; 
Ingres,  Vernet.  Delaroche,  and  Delacroix;  Corot,  Diaz,  Rousseau,  and  Millet; 
Courbet,  Regnault,  Troyon,  and  other  artists.     With  80  Illustrations. 

ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN.    By  H.  J.  Wilmot  Buxton, 

M.  A.,  and  S  R.  Koehler.  Including  an  Account  of  the  Earli-st  Paintings  know  1 
in  England  ;  the  works  of  Holbein,  ^Antonio  Moro,  Lucas  de  Heere,  Zuccaro,  and 
Marc  Garrard;  the  Hilliardsand  Olivers;  Van  Dyck,  Lely,  and  Kneller;  Hogarth, 
Reynolds,  and  Gainsborough  ;  West,  Romney  and  Lawrence  ;  Constable,  Turner, 
and  Wilkie  ;  Maclise,  Mulready,  and  Landseer,  and  other  celebrated  Painters.  And 
a  Chapter  on  Painting  in  America.    With  80  Illustrations. 

WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND.    By  Gilbert 

R.  Redgrave.  Illustrated  with  34  Engravings  after  the  choicest  Drawings  in 
"  The  Historical  Collection  of  Water-Colour  Drawings  "  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum  ;  and  in  the  Print  Room  of  the  British  Museum. 

ARCHITECTURE  : 

CLASSIC  AND  EARLY  CHRISTIAN.    By  Professor  T.  Roger 

Smith  and  John  Slater,  B.A.  Comprising  the  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Greek,  Roman, 
Byzantine,  and  Early  Christian.  Illustrated  with  upwards  of  200  Engravings,  includ- 
ing- the  Parthenon,  and  Erechtheum  at  Athens  ;  the  Colosseum,  the  Baths  of  Diocletian 
at  Rome,  Saint  Sophia  at  Constantinople ;  the  Sakhra  Mosque  at  Jerusalem,  &c. 

GOTHIC  AND  RENAISSANCE.  By  Professor  T.  Roger 
Smith  and  Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.A.  Showing  the  Progress  of  Gothic  Archi- 
tecture in  England,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain,  and  of  Renaissance 
Architecture  in  the  same  Countries.  Illustrated  with  more  than  ioo  Engravings, 
including  many  of  the  principal  Cathedrals,  Churches,  Palaces,  and  Domestic 
Buildings  on  the  Continent. 

SCULPTURE : 

EGYPTIAN,  GREEK,  AND  ROMAN.    By  George  Redford, 

F.R.C.S.  With  160  Illustrations  of  the  most  celebrated  Statues  and  Bas-Reliefs  of 
Greece  and  Rome,  a  map  of  Ancient  Greece,  and  Chronological  List  of  Ancient 
Sculptors  and  their  Works. 

RENAISSANCE  AND  MODERN.    By  Leader  Scott.  Illus- 

trated  with  numerous  Engravings  of  Works  by  Ghiberti,  Donatelli,  Delia  Robbia, 
Cellini,  and  other  celebrated  Sculptors  of  the  Renaissance  ;  Canova,  Thorwaldsen,' 
Flaxman,  Chantrey,  Gibson,  and  other  Sculptors  of  the  18th  and  19th  centuries. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/historyofwatercoOOredg_0 


THE    MONK,    BY   WILLIAM  H.  HUNT. 

In  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


A  HISTORY  OF 
WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING 
IN  ENGLAND 

BY    GILBERT    R.  REDGRAVE 

Author  of  "Lives  of  David  Cox  and  Peter  De  Wint" 


NEW  YORK 
CHARLES  SCRIBNERS  SONS 
743  &  745  BROADWAY 
1892 


All  rights  reserved 


Richard  Clay  and  Sons,  Limited, 
london  and  bungay. 


PREFACE. 


Perhaps  the  earliest  attempt  to  write  the  history  of  the 
English  Water-Colour  school  will  be  found  in  the  pages  of 
the  Somerset  House  Gazette,  a  weekly  journal  conducted  by 
W.  H.  Pyne.  The  editor  contributed  a  series  of  articles 
during  the  year  1822,  which  furnish  authentic  details  con- 
cerning the  lives  of  Barret,  Nicholson,  Glover  and  certain  of 
the  most  eminent  painters  of  that  day,  and  the  notices  of  the 
Exhibitions  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  doubtless  penned 
by  the  same  hand,  are  a  storehouse  of  information  for  subse- 
quent writers.  When  the  author's  father  undertook,  in  1857,  to 
form  an  historical  series  of  water-colour  drawings  and  to  prepare 
a  catalogue  of  the  artists'  works,  he  was  painfully  surprised  to 
find  how  slight  were  the  materials  extant,  and  how  little  was 
known  concerning  the  painters  of  this  country  in  the  past.  In 
his  preface  to  the  South  Kensington  Catalogue,  he  says  of  water- 
colour  painting : — "  Already  the  names  of  some  of  its  first 
professors  are  being  lost  for  want  of  record,  and  their  works 
dispersed  in  folios  and  forgotten;  yet  these  men  are  the 
founders  of  the  art ;  out  of  their  practice,  however  imperfect, 
arose  the  excellence  and  richness  of  the  succeeding  school ;  and 


viii 


PREFACE 


while  at  the  present  time  such  efforts  are  making  and  such  ex- 
pense is  very  properly  incurred,  to  trace  step  by  step  the  history 
of  the  revival  of  art  in  Italy,  it  is  surely  right  to  illustrate 
the  labours  of  our  own  countrymen  who  have  founded  a  new 
art,  and  to  treasure  up  the  incontestable  proofs  of  its  origin 
and  progress.' '  The  appreciation  of  this  our  native  art,  has 
grown  amazingly  since  the  second  decade  of  the  present 
century,  when  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  secured  their 
new  gallery  in  Pall  Mall,  and  much  has  been  written  in  recent 
times  about  the  masters  of  the  English  school.  It  may  seem 
to  some,  therefore,  that  but  little  need  existed  for  a  hand- 
book, giving  a  few  scant  details  of  the  history  of  water-colour 
painting  in  this  country  :  the  author  has,  however,  deemed 
it  advisable  to  bring  together  the  facts  already  extant  into 
a  small  compass,  and  to  furnish  the  student  with  a  concise 
account  of  the  origin  and  progress  of  the  art.  The  present 
work  differs  in  some  respects  from  others  of  the  same 
character  in  that  it  is  illustrated  with  reproductions  from  the 
drawings  by  eminent  painters,  selected  from  the  National 
Collections  at  South  Kensington,  and  in  the  Print  Room  of  the 
British  Museum.  For  permission  to  copy  these  works  the 
author  tenders  his  sincere  thanks  to  the  Lord  President 
of  the  Council  on  Education  and  to  the  Trustees  of  the 
British  Museum.  It  is  always  an  important  advantage  in 
a  work  of  this  kind  when  the  student  can  consult  for  himself 
the  examples  selected  as  illustrations,  and  every  lover  of 
water-colour  painting  can  himself  examine  the  admirable 
drawings  in  our  public  galleries. 

For  the  general  arrangement  and  subdivisions  he  has  adopted, 


PREFACE 


ix 


the  author  is  indebted  to  the  "  Introductory  Notice  "  prefixed 
to  the  Catalogue  of  Water-Colour  Paintings  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum,  prepared  by  his  uncle,  the  late  Mr. 
Samuel  Redgrave ;  and  from  his  Dictionary  of  Artists  of  the 
English  School  he  has  culled  most  of  the  details  of  the  lives 
of  the  painters. 

Since  this  work  was  in  the  press  the  author  has  had  the 
advantage  of  consulting  the  admirable  History  of  the  "  Old 
Water-Colour"  Society,  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Roget,  to  whom  he  is 
indebted  for  many  important  details  respecting  the  founders 
of  the  English  Water-Colour  school.  He  has  attempted  in 
what  follows  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the  art  of  water  colour 
painting  as  practised  in  this  country,  to  show  how  the  different 
methods  of  working  were  gradually  evolved,  and  to  ascribe  to 
those  artists  to  whom  we  chiefly  owe  these  altered  and  im- 
proved modes  of  working  their  due  share  of  credit.  He 
desires  to  lay  no  claim  to  originality,  and  his  work  will  effect 
all  that  he  anticipates  for  it  if  it  saves  the  student  the  time 
and  trouble  involved  in  seeking  from  a  number  of  sources  the 
information  here  brought  together  into  a  form  adapted  for 
easy  reference. 

G.  R.  R. 


Muswell  Hill, 

October,  1891. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION — THE  VARIOUS  DESCRIPTIONS  OF  WATER-COLOUR 
PAINTING  

CHAPTER  I. 

TOPOGRAPHIC  DRAWINGS — PAUL  SANDBY,  R.  A. — WILLIAM  ALEX- 
ANDER —  JOHN  WEBBER,  R.A.  —  EDWARD  DAYES  —  THOMAS 
HEARNE   

CHAPTER  II. 

JOHN  R.  COZENS — JOHN  SMITH  (WARWICK  SMITH) — THOMAS  GIRTIN 
— GIRTIN'S  METHOD  OF  WORKING — HIS  CARTRIDGE  PAPER — 
LETTER  FROM  PROFESSOR  RUSKIN  

CHAPTER  III. 

FRANCIS  WHEATLEY,  R.A. — WILLIAM  HAMILTON,  R.A. — SAWREY 
GILPIN,  R.A.  —  JOHN  HAMILTON  MORTIMER,  A. R.A. — WILLIAM 
PARS,  A.  R.A. — MICHAEL  ANGELO  ROOKER,  A.  R.A. — SAMUEL  H. 
GRIMM  —  WILLIAM  MARLOW  —  JOHN  CLEVELEY  —  ROBERT 
CLEVELEY — JOHN  ALEXANDER  GRESSE — JULIUS  C^SAR  IBBET- 
SON — THOMAS  STOTHARD,   R.A. — WILLIAM  BLAKE  

CHAPTER  IV. 

JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER,  R.A. — HIS  EARLY  DRAWINGS 
— HIS  LATER  DRAWINGS— HIS  INFLUENCE  ON  THE  ART    .    .  . 

CHAPTER  Y. 

THE  SOCIETY  OF  PAINTERS  IN  WATER-COLOURS — ITS  FORMATION — 
THE  FIRST  MEMBERS — THE  FIRST  ASSOCIATES — THE  SOCIETY 
OF  PAINTERS  IN  OIL  AND  WATER-COLOURS — THE  GALLERY  IN 
PALL  MALL  EAST — THE  ROYAL  SOCIETY  OF  PAINTERS  IN 
WATER-COLOURS — OTHER  WATER-COLOUR  SOCIETIES  

CHAPTER  YI. 

THE  FOUNDERS  OF  THE  WATER-COLOUR  SOCIETY— GEORGE  BARRET 
— ROBERT  HILLS — WILLIAM  HENRY  PYNE — NICHOLAS  POCOCK — 
SAMUEL  SHELLEY — WILLIAM  FREDERICK  WELLS — WILLIAM 
SAWREY  GILPIN — FRANCIS  NICHOLSON— JOHN  VARLEY — COR- 
NELIUS VARLEY — JOHN  CLAUDE  NATTES  


CONTENTS. 


xi 


CHAPTER  VII. 

PAGE 

ORIGINAL  MEMBERS  OF  THE  WATER-COLOUR  SOCIETY — JOSHUA 
CRISTALL — WILLIAM  HAVELL — JAMES  HOLWORTHY — STEPHEN 
FRANCIS  RIGAUD — JOHN  GLOVER — ANNE  FRANCES  BYRNE — 
JOHN  BYRNE — WILLIAM  PAYNE — PAUL  SANDBY  MUNN — THOMAS 
HEAPHY — JOHN  SMITH — AUGUSTUS  PUGIN — JOHN  JAMES  CHALON, 
R.A. — ALFRED  EDWARD  CHALON,  R.A. — WILLIAM  DELAMOTTE 
— ROBERT  FREEBAIRN   99 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

RAMSEY  RICHARD  REINAGLE— FREDERICK  NASH — THOMAS  UWINS, 
R.A. — WILLIAM  TURNER  (OF  OXFORD) — JOHN  AUGUSTUS 
ATKINSON — EDMUND  DORRELL — FRANCIS  STEVENS  (OF  EXETER) 
— JOHN      THURSTON — WILLIAM      SCOTT — CHARLES  BARBER- 


WILLIAM  WESTALL,  A. R.A. — PETER  DE  WINT  114 

CHAPTER  IX. 

ANTHONY  VANDYKE  COPLEY  FIELDING — DAVID  COX — JOHN  LIN- 
NELL — FREDERICK  MACKENZIE — JAMES  HOLMES — HENRY  JOHN 
RICHTER — HARRIET  GOULDSMITH — HENRY  C.   ALLPORT    ....  125 


CHAPTER  X. 

RICHARD  PARKES  BONINGTON — FRANCOIS  HUET-VILLIERS — SAMUEL 
OWEN — FRANCOIS  LOUIS  THOMAS  FRANCIA — ANDREW  ROBERT- 
SON— WILLIAM  WOOD — WALTER  HENRY  WATTS — THOMAS  BARKER 
(OF  BATH)— JOHN  LAPORTE — JAMES  GREEN — MARY  GREEN — 
ANDREW  WILSON — WILLIAM  WALKER — THOMAS  ROWLAKDSON — 
HENRY    EDRIDGE— LUKE     CLENNELL — JOHN     SELL     COTMAN — 


GEORGE  VINCENT  141 

CHAPTER  XI. 

GEORGE  FENNELL  ROBSON — JAMES  STEPHANOFF — FRANCIS  PHILIP 
STEPHANOFF — SAMUEL  PROUT — OPENING  OF  THE  GALLERY  IN 
PALL  MALL  EAST — WILLIAM   HENRY  HUNT  161 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  NEW  SOCIETY  OF  PAINTERS  IN  WATER-COLOURS — THE  DUDLEY 
GALLERY — WILLIAM  ANDREWS  NESFIELD — HENRY  GASTINEAU 
— FRANCIS  OLIVER  FINCH— JOHN  MASEY  WRIGHT — JOHN 
WHICHELO  —  PENRY  WILLIAMS  —  ALEXANDER  CHISHOLM — 
RICHARD  HAMILTON  ESSEX — JOHN  BRITTON,  F.S.A. — CHARLES 
WILD — JAMES  SARGANT  STORER — HENRY  SHAW,  F.S.A. — 
DAVID  ROBERTS,  R.A  ,   .  175 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

GEORGE  CATTERMOLE — JOSEPH  NASH — JAMES  DUFFIELD  HARDING — 
WILLIAM  EVANS  (OF  ETON) — GEORGE  CHAMBERS — JOHN  WILLIAM 
WRIGHT — JAMES  HOLLAND — OCTAVIUS  OAKLEY — JOHN  BURGESS 


CONTENTS. 


— SAMUEL  JACKSON — CHARLES  BR  AN  WHITE — CHARLES  BENTLEY 
- — ARTHUR  GLENNIE — JAMES  W.  WHITTAKER — DAVID  COX, 
JUNIOR — JOHN  CALLOW — WILLIAM  JAMES  MULLER — FRANK 
STONE,  A.R.A. — FOREIGN  ARTISTS — EGRON  S.  LUNDGREN — OTTO 
WEBER  189 

CHAPTER  XIY. 

NEW  WATER-COLOUR  SOCIETY — LOUIS  HAGUE — EDWARD  HENRY 
WEHNERT — HENRY  F.  TIDEY — HENRY  WARREN — AARON  EDWIN 
PENLEY — THOMAS  MILES  RICHARDSON — THOMAS  SEWELL  ROBINS 
— WILLIAM  HENRY  KEARNEY — G.  H.  LAPORTE — JOHN  CHASE — 
HENRY  PARSONS  RIVIERE — H.  CLARK  PIDGEON — WILLIAM  LEE — 
GEORGE  B.  CAMPION — JOHN  WYKEHAM  ARCHER — WILLIAM 
LEIGHTON  LEITCH — HENRY  JOHN  JOHNSON — JAMES  FAHEY — 
BENJAMIN  R.  GREEN — JOHN  SKINNER  PROUT — MICHAEL  ANGELO 
HAYES — HENRY  BRIGHT — CHARLES  VACHER — JOHN  HENRY 
MOLE — GEORGE  SHALDERS — FREDERICK  JOHN  SKILL — AUGUSTUS 
JULES  BOUVIER — THOMAS  LEESON  ROWBOTHAM — THE  LADY 
ARTISTS — MARY  HARRISON — ELIZABETH  MURRAY — FaNNY  COR- 
BAUX — ELIZA  SHARPE — LOUISA  SHARPE — MRS.  BROOKBANK — 
NANCY  RAYNER — MARGARET  GILLIES — MRS.  H.  CRIDDLE — 
HELEN  CORDELIA  ANGELL — MARY  LOFTHOUSE  212 

CHAPTER  XV. 

FRANCIS  WILLIAM  TOPHAM — EDWARD  DUNCAN — JOSEPH  JOHN 
JENKINS — GEORGE  HAYDOCK  DODGSON — WILLIAM  COLLINGWOOD 
SMITH — GEORGE  JOHN  PINWELL — ARTHUR  BOYD  HOUGHTON — 
FREDERICK  WALKER,  A.R.A. — JOHN  FREDERICK  LEWIS,  R.A. — 
SAMUEL  PALMER — GABRIEL  CHARLES  DANTE  ROSSETTI — SAMUEL 
READ — ALFRED  PIZZEY  NEWTON — HENRY  BRITTAN  WILLIS — 
THOMAS  DANBY — RANDOLPH  CALDECOTT — PHILIP  HENRY  DELA- 
MOTTE — THOMAS  MILES  RICHARDSON — WALTER  GOODALL — 
FREDERICK  TAYLER — PAUL  JACOB  NAFTEL — MAUD  NAFTEL  .    .  224 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

COLLECTIONS  OF  WATER-COLOUR  DRAWINGS  IN  ENGLAND — THE 
SOUTH  KENSINGTON  MUSEUM — DRAWINGS  BY  JOHN  CONSTABLE 
— THE  SHEEPSHANKS  COLLECTION — THE  HISTORICAL  COLLECTION 
OF  WATER-COLOUR  DRAWINGS — THE  PRINT  ROOM  OF  THE  BRITISH 
MUSEUM — WATER-COLOUR  DRAWINGS  IN  THE  NATIONAL 
GALLERY — TURNER'S  Liber  StlLCliOTUm — DRAWINGS  BY  DE 
WINT   AND  CATTERMOLE — THE   GALLERY  OF  BRITISH  ART     ,    .  242 

CHAPTER  XVIL 

MATERIALS  USED  BY  WATER-COLOUR  ARTISTS  —  PERMANENCE 
OF  WATER-COLOUR  DRAWINGS — EXPERIMENTS  MADE- — REPORTS 
FROM  A  COMMITTEE  OF  EXPERTS — THE  STABILITY  OF  SINGLE 
COLOURS  AND   MIXED  COLOURS — GENERAL  CONCLUSIONS     .    .    .  251 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 

The  names  of  the  artists  are  arranged  in  chronological  order. 
B.M.,  British  Museum ;  S.K.M.,  South  Kensington  Museum. 

I. 

PAGE 

JOHN  ROBERT  COZENS  .  .  (b.  1752  .  .  d.  1799.) 

Vieiv  in  the  Campagna,  Rome  (S.K.M.,  Dyce  Collection)  .  27 

II. 

FRANCIS  WHEATLEY,  R.A.  .  .  (b.  1747  .  .  d.  1801.) 

The  Little  Gleaners  (B.M.)   41 

III. 

THOMAS  GIRTIN  .  .  (6.  1775  .  .  d.  1802.) 

Ripon  Cathedral,  from  the  Meadows  (B.M.)  ,  35 

IV. 

EDWARD  DAYES  .  .  (b.  1763  .  .  d.  1801.) 

Cottage  at  Corwen,  Monmouth  (B.M.)   .  17 

Y. 

WILLIAM  ALEXANDER  .  .  {b.  1767  .  .  d.  1816.) 

Chinese  Canal  and  Bridge  (B.M.)   13 

YI. 

THOMAS  HEARNE  .  .  (b.  1744  .  .  d.  1817.) 

Carisbrooh  Castle  (B.M.)   21 


xiv 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


VII. 

PAGE 


HENRY  EDRIDGE,  A.R.A.  .  .  (b.  1769  .  .  d.  1821.) 

Singer's  Farm  near  Busliey  (B.M.)  153 

VIII. 

THOMAS  ROWLANDSON  .  .  (b.  1756  .  .  d.  1827.) 

Portrait  of  George  Morland  (B.M.)  149 

IX. 

GEORGE  FENNEL  ROBSON  .  .  (b.  1790  .  .  d.  1833.) 

View  of  Durham  (Mrs.  R.  Redgrave.)   165 

X. 

LUKE  CLENNELL  .  .  (b.  1781  .  .  d.  1810.) 

Newcastle  Ferry  (B.M.)  157 

XI. 

JOHN  VARLEY  .  .  (b.  1778  .  .  d.  1842.) 

Landscape  ivith  Lake  (B.M.)  ...    95 

XII. 

GEORGE  BARRET  .  .  (b.  1774  .  .  d.  1842.) 

Classic  Composition  (S.K.M.)   79 

XIII. 

JOHN  SELL  COTMAN  .  .  (b.  1782  .  .  d.  1842.) 

The  Windmill  (S.K.M.)  1G1 

XIV. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  PYNE  .  .  (b.  1769  .  .  d.  1843.) 

A  Rustic  Landscape  (B.M.)   87 

XV. 

ROBERT  HILLS  .  .  (b.  1769  .  .  d.  1844.) 

Deer  in  Knowle  Park  (S.K.M.)   83 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


XV 


XVI. 

PAGE 

WILLIAM  JAMES  MULLER  .    .  (b.  1812  .    .  d.  1845.) 

Mod  Siabod  (S.K.M.)   .  203 

XVII. 

PETER  DE  WINT  .  .  (b.  1784  .  .  d.  1849.) 

Torksey  Castle  (S.K.M.)  121 

XVIII.  and  XIX. 
JOSEPH  MALLORD  WILLIAM  TURNER  .  .  (b.  1775  .  .  d.  1851.) 

Magdalen  Bridge  and  Tower,  Oxford  (B.M.)   55 

Old  London  Bridge  (S.K.M.,  Jones  Collection.)  ....  61 

XX. 

SAMUEL  PROUT  .  .  (b.  1783  .  .  d.  1852.) 

The  Porch,  Batisbon  Cathedral  (S.K.M.)  171 

XXI. 

FREDERICK  MACKENZIE  .  .  (b.  1787  .  .  d.  1854.) 

Antwerp  Cathedral  (B.M.)  137 

XXII. 

JOHN  JAMES  CHALON,  R.A.  .  .  (b.  1778  .  .  d.  1854.) 

Cattle  in  a  Meadow  (B.M.)  Ill 

XXIII. 

COPLEY  FIELDING  .  .  (b.  1787  .  .  d.  1855.) 

Vieiv  of  Ben  Lomond  (S.K.M.)  129 

XXIV. 

WILLIAM  HAVELL  .  .  (b.  1782  .  .  d.  1857.) 

The  Old  Keep,  Windsor,  from  the  Thames  (S.K.M.)  .   .  103 

XXV. 

SAMUEL  OWEN  .  .  (b.  1768  .  .  d.  1857.) 

Dutch  Vessels  (S.K.M.)   145 


XVI 


LIST  OF  PLATES. 


XXVI. 

PAGE 

DAVID  COX  .  .  (b.  1783  .  .  d.  1859.) 

Pont  Aber,  Wales  (B.M.)   133 

XXVII. 

DAVID  ROBERTS,  R.A.  .  .  {b.  1796  .  .  d.  1864.) 

Mont  St.  Michel  (B.M.)  187 

XXVIII. 

WILLIAM  HENRY  HUNT  .  .  (b.  1790  .  .  d.  1831.) 

The  Monk  (S.K.M.)  Frontispiece 

XXIX. 

OEORGE  CATTERMOLE  .  .  (b.  1800  .  .  d.  1868.) 

Cellini  and  the  Bobbers  (S.K.M.)  191 

XXX. 

JOHN  FREDERICK  LEWIS,  R.A.  .  .  (b.  1805  .  .  d.  187C.) 

A  Halt  in  the  Desert  (S.K.M.)  ,  ,  229 

XXXI. 

JOSEPH  NASH  .  .  (b.  1808  .  .  d.  1878.) 

Spehe  Hall,  Lancashire  (S.K.M.)  195 

XXXII. 

LOUIS  HAGHE  .  .  (b.  1806  .  .  d.  1885.) 

The  Guardroom  (S.K.M.)   209 

XXXIII. 

FREDERICK  TAYLER  .  .  (b.  1801  .  .  d.  1889.) 

Otter  Hounds  (S.K.M.)  ,  237 


A 


HISTORY  OF  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING 
IN  ENGLAND. 


The  Various  Descriptions  of  Water  Colour  Painting. 

Water-colour  painting  has  often  been  claimed  as  the  most 
truly  English  of  our  national  attainments  in  the  fine  arts,  and 
few  who  have  carefully  examined  the  continental  galleries  will 
care  to  dispute  the  fact  that  this  art  as  practised  in  our  own 
country  has,  in  the  hands  of  a  series  of  skilful  exponents, 
achieved  a  position  of  individuality  and  commands  a  degree 
of  success  unrivalled  by  any  of  the  foreign  schools. 

When  we  endeavour  to  trace  the  ancestry  of  the  water- 
colour  art  of  to-day  and  to  show  its  descent  from  the  times 
of  the  Elizabethan  miniaturists,  the  "  limmers,"  of  quaint 
Master  Richard  Haydocke,1 — Nicholas  Hilliard  and  his"  schol- 
lers,"  through  the  foreign  artists  in  tempera  of  the  Dutch 
school, — Ostade  and  his  contemporaries,  we  encounter  very 
serious  difficulties.    The  Dutch  masters  produced,  it  is  true, 

1  A  Tracte  containing  the  Artes  of  curious  Paintinge  Carvinge  and 
Buildinge  by  R.  H.,  Oxford,  1598. 


INTRODUCTION. 


B 


2 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


many  works  in  transparent  colour,  previous  to  the  period 
of  the  "stained"  or  "tinted"  drawings  which  were  the 
precursors  of  the  earliest  English  water-colour  paintings,  but 
in  the  attempt  to  prove  this  mutual  relationship  we  are  beset 
by  so  many  contradictions  that  we  are  compelled  to  abandon 
any  theory  of  continuous  tradition  or  descent.  The  origin 
of  the  modern  practice  of  the  art  must  undoubtedly  be 
sought  in  the  works  of  the  topographer  or  antiquarian 
draughtsman  of  the  last  century,  whose  delicate  and  refined 
sketches  in  pencil  or  pen  and  ink,  washed  in  with  simple 
tints  of  Indian  ink  or  sepia,  were  the  true  forerunners  of 
the  beautiful  paintings  in  transparent  colours,  the  veritable 
water-  colour  drawings  of  the  present  English  school. 

We  propose  in  our  introductory  chapter  to  glance  rather 
more  in  detail  at  each  of  these  various  methods  of  painting 
and  at  the  results  obtained  by  them,  before  passing  on  to  the 
history  of  English  water-colour  painting,  which  for  the 
purpose  of  discussion  may  be  divided  into  three  periods. 

I.  Early  period,  prior  to  1780. 

II.  Middle  period,  from  1780  to  the  establishment  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society  in  their  new  gallery  at  Pall  Mall  East. 

III.  The  Later  period,  from  the  final  removal  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society  to  Pall  Mall  to  the  present  time. 

We  are  aware  that  these  divisions  are  somewhat  arbitrary, 
but  they  will  be  convenient  for  purposes  of  classification,  and 
as  the  progress  of  the  art  was  greatly  influenced  by  the 
reconstruction  of  the  Water-Colour  Society  on  a  sound  and 
firm  basis,  we  may  well  describe  this  event  as  an  epoch 
in  its  history. 

Most  of  the  older  writers  on  painting  in  this  country  distin- 
guish between  "  oile-worke"  and  "  distempour,"  and  Haydocke, 


3 


who  translated  Lomazzo's  treatise  on  painting  in  1598,  very 
concisely  describes  the  varieties  of  the  tempera  painting  in 
rise  in  his  day.  He  says  : — "  In  Distempour  the  colours  are 
grounde  with  water  and  bounde  with  glew,  sise,  or  gummes 
of  diverse  sortes ;  as  gumme  hedenB,  dragagant,  or  Arabicke, 
which  is  held  the  best.  The  white  of  an  egge  is  also  used,  as 
chapter  the  fourth  teacheth ;  and  sometimes  the  yolke,  as 
George  Vasary  prescribeth.  Of  Distemper  I  note  three 
kindes  :  In  Sise,  used  by  our  common  painters  upon  cloath, 
walles,  etc.  In  Washing,  with  gummed  colours,  but  tempered 
very  thinne  and  bodilesse,  used  in  mappes,  printed  stories,  etc. 
And  in  Limming,  where  the  colours  are  likewise  mixed  with 
gummes,  but  laied  with  a  thicke  body  and  substance  :  wherein 
much  arte  and  neatenesse  is  required.  This  was  much  used 
in  former  times  in  Church  bookes  (as  is  well  knowne),  as  also 
in  drawing  by  the  life  in  small  models,  dealt  in  also  of  late 
yeares  by  some  of  our  Country-men,  as  Shoote,  Bettes,  etc., 
but  brought  to  the  rare  perfection  we  now  see  by  the  most 
ingenious,  painefull  and  skilfull  Master  Nicholas  Hilliard,  and 
his  well  profiting  scholler  Isaacke  Oliver ;  whose  farther 
commendations  I  referre  to  the  curiositie  of  their  workes." 

We  have  thought  it  well  to  preface  our  remarks  on  water 
colour  painting  with  this  somewhat  lengthy  extract  because  it 
sets  forth  the  practice  of  the  early  masters,  whose  work  must 
receive  passing  notice  in  a  history  of  the  art  in  this  country. 
We  have  mention  made  here  first  of  the  common  distemper- 
colour  of  the  journeyman  painter  which  was  mixed  with  size 
and  concerning  which  we  need  say  nothing  further ;  this  work 
is  carried  on  unchanged  to  the  present  day,  and  except  in 
various  descriptions  of  scene  painting,  or  as  Haydocke  terms 
it,  painting  upon  "  cloath,''  it  scarcely  requires  notice  among  the 

b  2 


4 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING    IN  ENGLAND. 


fine  arts.  Second,  our  author  refers  to  "  washing,"  used,  he 
tells  us,  "  in  mappes,  printed  stories,  etc."  This  was  the  true 
transparent  water  colour  as  we  understand  the  term  at  the 
present  day,  though  in  the  sixteenth  century  this  kind  of 
tinting  was  not  carried  on  by  artists,  but  by  those  engaged 
in  colouring  wood-cuts  and  engravings  in  order  to  produce 
maps  and  picture  books. 

The  third  description  of  work,  which  Haydocke  styles 
"  limming,"  was  the  well  known  "  tempera  painting,"  pro- 
bably the  most  ancient  art  in  the  world,  as  it  flourished  and 
was  brought  to  great  perfection  in  Egypt  more  than  4,000 
years  ago,  and  was  used  by  the  Etruscans  and  Romans  for 
the  purpose  of  mural  decoration. 

No  other  kind  of  painting  was  in  fact  known,  if  we  are  to 
rely  upon  the  historian,  until  the  brothers  Yan  Eyck  made 
use  of  oil  as  the  vehicle  or  binding  medium,  and  originated 
the  comparatively  modern  process  of  oil  painting ;  an  art 
which  according  to  Yasari  was  in  his  time  rapidly  displacing 
fresco  in  Italy.  In  tempera  painting  the  pigments  are  pur- 
posely mixed  with  white  or  with  some  opaque  substance  to 
prevent  the  transmission  of  light  from  the  ground,  and  the 
colours  are  "  laied  with  a  thicke  body  and  substance,"  more  in 
the  manner  of  oil  painting  than  in  that  of  the  transparent 
washes  such  as  are  employed  by  the  modern  water-colour 
painter.  Eamiliar  instances  of  the  use  of  tempera  on  paper 
are  furnished  by  the  Raphael  cartoons,  now  at  the  South 
Kensington  Museum,  while  the  well  known  series  of  The 
Triumphs  of  Julius  Ccesar,  by  Andrea  Mantegna,  preserved  at 
Hampton  Court,  are  executed  on  canvas  in  distemper  colours. 

"We  owe  the  practice  of  this  art  and  its  preservation 
through  the  dark  ages  to  the  missal-painters  and  illuminators 


EARLY  MINIATURISTS. 


5 


in  whose  hands  tempera  painting  attained  a  very  high  degree 
of  perfection.  Some  of  the  church  books  and  illuminations  of 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  century  are  exquisite  examples 
of  this  description  of  work,  and  Shute  or  Shoote  and  Bettes, 
mentioned  by  Haydocke,  as  also  their  more  eminent  successors, 
Hilliard  and  the  two  Olivers,  all  worked  in  distemper,  or 
4<  body-colour, "  as  it  is  sometimes  termed.  This  school  of 
miniaturists  of  Tudor  and  Stuart  times  raised  portraiture  or 
"limning  in  little"  to  the  rank  of  a  fine  art,  and  in  so  far 
excelled  the  illuminators  who  preceded  them,  but  to  whom 
they  were  indebted  for  the  entire  rationale  of  their  art.  These 
painters  employed  a  mixture  of  white  almost  as  freely  as  did 
the  earlier  missal  painters,  like  them  also  they  made  copious 
use  of  gold  in  the  embroidered  work  and  ornaments  of  their 
portraits.  Thus  in  a  portrait  by  Oliver,  of  Henry  Prince  of 
Wales,  son  of  James  II.,  the  brocaded  tunic  of  the  prince  is 
covered  with  gold  enrichments,  while  opaque  colours  are  used 
throughout,  except  for  the  flesh.  Even  the  Olivers  however 
showed  signs  of  departing  from  the  practice  of  the  earlier 
masters  of  the  school,  and  laid  on  large  masses  of  colour  in 
the  draperies  with  transparent  pigments,  possibly  on  account 
of  the  greater  freedom  in  handling  thus  attainable.  Somewhat 
later,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  many 
changes  crept  in,  and  the  style  of  working  was  greatly 
modified. 

A  most  instructive  series  of  miniatures  to  the  number  of 
fifteen,  contained  in  a  pocket-book  said  to  have  belonged  to 
Cooper,  to  whom  they  are  attributed,  though  they  would  appear 
more  probably  to  be  the  work  of  Flatman,  have  long  been 
exhibited  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum,  and  the  author's 
relatives  have  thus  described  in  theCentury  of  Painters  the  mode 


6 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


of  working  adopted  by  this  artist.  Owing  to  the  unfinished 
state  of  several  of  the  portraits  a  very  accurate  opinion  can  be 
formed  on  this  point.  All  the  works  are  executed  on  thin 
sheets  of  cardboard.  "  The  outline  was  first  suggestively 
sketched,  and  then  the  smooth  surface  of  the  card  under  the 
flesh  was  covered  with  a  thin  wash  of  opaque  white,  which,  as 
he  used  it,  must  have  been  an  excellent  pigment,  as  it  has  not 
changed  in  any  instance.  Then  with  a  brownish  lake  tint  the 
features  have  been  most  delicately  and  beautifully  drawn  in, 
and  the  broad  shades  under  the  eyebrows,  the  nose,  and  the 
chin  have  been  washed  in  flatly  with  the  same  tint.  This 
seems  to  have  completed  the  first  sitting.  In  the  next,  the 
painter  put  in  the  local  colour  of  the  hair,  washing  in  at  the 
same  time  its  points  of  relief  or  union  with  the  background, 
in  many  cases  adding  a  little  white  to  his  transparent  colour 
to  make  the  hue  absorbent,  and  to  give  it  a  slight  solidity. 
The  shadows  of  the  hair  were  then  hatched  in,  and  the  features, 
and  face,  in  succeeding  sittings,  hatched  or  stippled  into 
roundness.  Finally  the  colours  of  the  dress  were  washed  in 
in  some  cases  transparently,  in  others  with  a  slight  admixture 
of  white,  and  the  shadows  of  the  dress  were  given  with  the 
local  colours  of  the  shadows.''  Here  we  have  a  much  more 
extensive  use  of  transparent  colours  than  wTas  apparent  in  the 
works  of  Hilliard,  and  it  is  clear  from  the  catalogue  of  Yan- 
derdort  that  certain  foreign  artists,  prior  to  the  time  of 
Charles  I.,  wrorked  wholly  in  pure  water-colours,  as  we  read  of 
a  "limned  picture  done  upon  the  right  light  of  the  Emperor 
Rodolphus  II.  painted  upon  parchment  being  transparent,  to 
be  seen  on  both  sides  holding  against  the  sky."  This  was  the 
work  of  Frossley,  the  imperial  court  limner,  and  Rudolf  II. 
reigned  from  1576 — 1612. 


THE  DUTCH  SCHOOL  OF  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTERS. 


7 


A  considerable  school  of  water-colour  painters  nourished  in 
Holland  in  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  prominent 
among  whom  was  Adrian  Ostade  (1613-1671),  whose  works 
are  well  known  in  this  country.  Other  artists  of  the  Dutch 
school,  slightly  later  in  point  of  date,  but  still  employing 
transparent  colours  with  great  skill,  were  Fyt  (1625 — 1671), 
Du  Sart  (1655—1704)  and  Backhuysen  (1631— 1709),  the  last 
two  exercised  their  profession  until  the  early  years  of  the 
eighteenth  century.  The  method  of  working  employed  by 
Ostade  can  be  easily  discovered  by  a  careful  examination  of 
his  drawings.  He  seems  to  have  sketched  in  his  outlines 
with  a  reed  pen,  and  then  to  have  added  broad  tints  of  brown 
or  grey  to  indicate  the  shadows  and  the  effects  of  light  and 
dark,  much  in  the  same  way  that  the  masters  of  the  Dutch 
school  obtained  the  chiaroscuro  of  their  marvellous  etchings. 
Many  of  the  studies  of  Ostade  go  no  further  than  this,  but  in 
course  of  time  the  hues  of  draperies  and  of  landscape  back- 
grounds were  added,  and  the  works  bear  to  a  great  extent  the 
character  of  finished  drawings.  The  tints  used  are  generally 
semi-opaque — that  is  to  say  the  colours  were  probably  mixed 
with  more  or  less  white,  but  the  drawings  of  Ostade  in- 
variably retain  strong  evidences  of  having  been  originally 
studies  in  monochrome,  worked  up  or  rendered  more  attractive 
by  subsequent  tinting.  Many  of  the  artists  of  this  school 
used  the  pen  with  great  freedom  and  effect,  especially  in  their 
landscapes,  wTherein  the  forms  of  the  foliage  are  carefully 
defined  in  outline  and  made  out  with  the  prevalent  grey 
shadow  of  the  ground  tint. 

Though  the  above  is  a  fair  description  of  the  general 
practice  of  the  Dutch  school  of  water-colour  painters,  from 
whom   some  have   considered  the   methods   of   the  earlier 


8 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


English  artists  were  derived,  we  must  admit  that  towards  the 
close  of  the  century  many  modifications  were  apparent,  and 
secondary  tints  of  local  colour  took  the  place  of  the  more 
delicate  washes  of  Ostade,  but  the  former  plan  of  working 
over  a  grey  ground  still  prevailed,  and  we  find  on  the  Con- 
tinent but  scant  indications  of  the  abandonment  of  this 
initiatory  tinting  process  and  the  use  of  pure  local  colours 
which  was  the  distinguishing  feature  of  the  practice 
of  the  English  School. 

While  we  are  discussing  the  methods  of  water-colour  paint- 
ing in  vogue  on  the  Continent  during  the  last  century,  we 
ought  not  to  omit  all  reference  to  that  description  of  tempera 
painting  which  prevailed  extensively  in  Italy,  France  and 
Switzerland,  and  led  to  the  production  of  many  highly 
finished  and  important  works,  the  so-called  guash  drawings, 
a  very  fine  example  of  which  is  the  scene  in  the  gardens 
of  a  palace,  probably  painted  by  Blaremberg,  which  forms 
part  of  the  Collection  at  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  The 
features  of  the  royal  personages  are  in  this  work  most  care- 
fully finished,  and  the  details  are  painted  with  the  minute 
elaboration  of  a  miniature. 

The  early  water-colour  drawings  of  the  Dutch  school  may 
be  studied  with  great  advantage  in  the  collection  at  the  British 
Museum,  where  a  splendid  series  of  drawings  of  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries  has  been  brought  together. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Topographic  Drawings — Paul  Sandby,  E.A. — William  Alex- 
ander— John  Webber,  E.A. — Edward  Dayes — Thomas 
Hearne. 

"We  have  seen  in  our  introductory  remarks  that  the  art 
of  miniature  painting  in  tempera,  which  had  nourished  in 
England  since  the  days  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  had  been  consider- 
ably modified  as  respects  its  practice  by  Cooper  and  his 
successors,  while  on  the  Continent,  though  some  able  artists 
at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century  still  worked  in  pure 
distemper,  others  employed  semi-transparent  colours  on  a 
ground- work  of  monochrome — this  latter  plan  of  working 
being  especially  favoured  by  the  Dutch  artists,  of  whom  we 
have  selected  Ostade  as  the  representative.  A  careful  examina- 
tion of  the  drawings  by  the  earliest  masters  of  the  art  of  true 
water-colour  painting  as  practised  in  England  during  the  last 
century,  has  led  those  most  competent  to  form  an  opinion  to 
declare  that  our  modern  art  of  painting  in  water-colours  grew 
out  of  neither  of  these  methods,  but  was  derived  from  the 
much  humbler  work  of  the  topographer,  from  whose  technique 
we  shall  now  attempt  to  show  that  this  art  may  be  clearly 
and  distinctly  traced. 

The  interest  that  was  aroused  in  this  country  in  antiquarian 
researches  about  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  and  the  study 
of  the  remains  of  ancient  architecture,  gave  abundant  employ- 


10 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


merit  to  skilful  draughtsmen,  whose  practice  was  mainly 
confined  to  careful  outline  drawings  of  buildings  and  archi- 
tectural features,  with  a  rather  mechanical  system  of  indicating 
foliage  and  landscape  details.  To  the  outline  was  sometimes 
added  a  general  scheme  of  light  and  shade  in  tints  of  Indian 
ink,  grey,  or  sepia,  the  warmer  colour  being  occasionally 
used  in  the  foreground,  and  the  cold  and  retiring  tints  being 
so  employed  as  to  give  an  approximate  idea  of  the  aerial 
perspective.  In  course  of  time  simple  washes  of  local  colour 
were  used  in  conjunction  with  a  careful  outline,  which  outline 
disappeared  more  or  less  completely  as  the  work  progressed,  or 
was,  in  other  examples,  accentuated  by  the  use  of  the  reed-pen 
and  made  a  prominent  feature  of  the  drawing.  Each  of  these 
methods  had  its  followers,  and  among  the  early  masters  of  the 
English  water-colour  school  we  may  readily  distinguish  the 
exponents  of  both  systems  of  working.  Among  the  foremost 
of  those  who  practised  this  description  of  topographical  drawing 
we  may  mention  Paul  Sandby,  Webber,  Dayes,  and  Hearne. 
William  Alexander's  Chinese  drawings  belong  also  to  this 
period,  and  there  are  several  other  less  known  artists  who 
worked  about  this  time,  and  who  deserve  to  rank  among  the 
founders  of  our  English  school  of  water-colour  painting. 

The  topographer,  from  the  very  nature  of  what  was  expected 
of  him,  was  a  merely  literal  transcriber  of  nature.  He  had  not 
to  occupy  himself  with  fanciful  effects  of  storm  and  sunshine, 
or  with  the  beauties  due  to  the  ever-cha,nging  play  of  light 
and  shade.  He  could  not  venture  upon  composition,  as  the 
artist  understands  that  license  which  enables  him  to  vary  and 
adapt  the  features  of  the  landscape  before  him  to  suit  the 
exigencies  of  the  picture.  He  was  often  enough  bound  to 
remember  the  engraver  who  was  to  follow  him,  and  who 
was  virtually  his  master,  in  that  the  drawing  was  destined 


TOPOGRAPHIC  DRAWINGS. 


11 


to  be  interpreted  by  him  into  black  and  white.  The  engraver 
required  a  broad  and  massive  rendering  of  the  architecture, 
and  would  resent  as  an  impertinence  any  attempt  to  intro- 
duce accidental  shadows  and  effects. 

The  art  of  the  topographer  was  therefore  clearly  a  very 
restricted  one  as  to  its  aims,  and  there  were  scant  opportuni- 
ties for  the  exercise  of  many  of  the  higher  qualities  of  the 
painter.  The  works  of  these  early  men  often  fail  consequently 
to  interest  us  as  pictures,  though  wre  may  admire  the  delicacy 
and  fidelity  of  the  draughtsmanship,  and  appreciate  the  evident 
patience  and  care  bestowed  upon  them.  There  is  a  sombreness 
and  a  tone  of  subdued  melancholy  in  the  drawings  of  this 
date,  which  was  heightened  and  intensified  by  the  method  in 
which  they  were  mounted  and  the  grey  paper,  ruled  with 
numerous  lines  of  tinted  border,  which  surrounded  them. 
The  attractive  white  mount  wThich  in  later  times  did  so  much 
to  enhance  the  work  of  the  water-colour  painter  was  a 
comparatively  recent  acquisition  and  one  of  doubtful  value, 
and  though  the  exigencies  of  the  crowded  modern  picture 
gallery  have  caused  this  feature  of  late  years  to  give  place  to 
the  more  compact  gold  mount,  we  are  bound  to  admit  that,  for 
the  brilliant  and  high-toned  drawings  of  recent  times,  the 
white  mount  was  a  useful  corrective.  Notwithstanding  the 
lack  of  colour  there  is  however  a  poetry  and  grandeur  about 
the  art  of  some  of  the  earliest  of  our  water-colour  painters, 
notably  in  the  works  of  Cozens,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  reap 
the  advantage  of  Italian  travel,  and  in  some  directions  also 
in  those  of  Girtin,  for  which  the  more  brilliant  colouring  of 
the  modern  school  scarcely  compensates. 

It  is  not  exactly  an  easy  matter  to  trace  step  by  step  the 
stages  by  which  the  tinted  sketch  of  the  topographer  became 


12 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


the  highly-coloured  work  of  the  water-colour  painter ;  an 
examination  of  the  beautiful  little  drawing,  by  T.  Malton  of  the 
Eleanor  Cross  at  Waltham,  in  the  galleries  at  South  Ken- 
sington, will  give  the  student  an  admirable  illustration 
of  the  delicacy  with  which  the  older  men  were  capable  of 
handling  colour,  and  in  this  respect  the  works  of  Girtin  in  his 
younger  days  may  be  studied  with  advantage.  Dayes,  whose 
Instructions  for  Drawing  and  Colouring  Landscapes,  published 
in  1808,  have  been  quoted  as  authoritative  on  the  practice 
of  water-colour  painting  at  that  time,  was  a  topographical 
draughtsman,  as  also  a  miniature  painter,  and  the  contemporary 
of  Sandby  and  Cozens,  and  he  was  doubtless  familiar  with 
their  methods  of  working.  He  describes  very  minutely  the 
mode  of  laying  on  the  colours  in  the  different  parts  of  the 
drawing  \  the  shadows  and  middle  tints  he  tells  us  should  be 
made  with  Prussian  blue  and  a  brown  Indian  ink,  the  sky 
with  "  Prussian  blue  rather  tender,"  the  shades  of  the  clouds 
with  Prussian  blue  and  Indian  ink,  and  he  advises  working- 
forward  from  the  distance  into  the  foreground,  leaving  out 
the  blue  in  the  advance,  until  the  foreground  is  reached, 
which  is  to  be  worked  with  brown  Indian  ink  only.  Finally, 
the  darker  parts  of  the  foreground  are  to  be  retouched  with 
Vandyke  brown.  This  would  seem  to  accord  in  every  respect 
with  the  method  pursued  by  Cozens  in  his  best  period,  and  it 
was  upon  such  a  foundation  as  this  that  the  true  water-colour 
art  of  to-day  was  based.  While  we  may  instance  Cozens  as 
a  genuine  exponent  of  the  older  school,  we  must  concede  to 
him  also  the  credit  of  being  one  of  the  first  to  shake  himself 
free  from  the  traditions  of  the  topographers,  and  to  exalt 
water-colour  painting  to  the  rank  of  a  fine  art. 

An  interesting  feature  of  the  period  which  marks  the  dawn 


PAUL  SANDBY. 


15 


of  the  improved  practice  of  the  art  of  water-colour  painting,  was 
the  patronage  afforded  by  distinguished  amateurs  to  the  artists 
of  that  date.  William  Alexander  was  selected  to  accompany 
Lord  Macartney's  embassy  to  China  in  1792,  and  Cozens  was 
sent  to  sketch  in  Italy  for  Mr.  Beckford.  Paul  Sandby  was 
high  in  the  favour  of  George  III.,  and  John  Smith  travelled 
with  the  Earl  of  Warwick  in  Italy  and  acquired  the  cognomen 
of  "Warwick"  Smith. 

Paul  Sandby,  P. A.,  who  was  born  at  Nottingham  in  1725, 
and  lived  on  until  1809,  has  often  been  styled  the  "father  of 
water-colour  art,"  partly  on  account  of  his  patriarchal  age 
and  partly  because  of  the  early  period  at  which  he  practised ; 
he  belonged  to  the  ranks  of  the  topographers,  and  never  freed 
himself  entirely  from  the  trammels  of  their  art.  He  was  also 
a  skilful  worker  in  the  still  earlier  manner  of  tempera  painting, 
and  a  good  example  of  this  phase  of  his  art  is  to  be  seen 
at  South  Kensington — An  Ancient  Beech  Tree  (No.  383). 
Sandby  was  an  original  member  of  the  Poyal  Academy,  having 
been  elected  on  its  foundation  in  1768,  and  he  was  a  very 
constant  contributor  to  the  exhibitions.  He  was  employed  in 
his  earlier  life  as  a  Government  draughtsman,  first  in  the 
Military  Drawing  Offices  at  the  Tower,  and  subsequently  on 
the  survey.  From  this  work  he  seems  to  have  retired  in 
1752,  when  he  came  to  reside  at  Windsor  with  his  brother 
Thomas,  the  deputy  ranger  of  the  Great  Park,  also  an  artist 
of  much  skill.  While  here  he  secured  the  patronage  of.  Sir 
Joseph  Banks,  and  accompanied  him  to  Wales.  In  1768  he 
was  appointed  the  chief  drawing  master  at  the  Poyal  Military 
Academy,  an  office  he  retained  for  upwards  of  thirty  years. 
He  was  in  great  request  as  a  fashionable  teacher  of  drawing, 
and  was  selected  by  George  III.  to  instruct  the  royal  children. 


16 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Sanclby  was  the  first  English  artist  to  practise  in  aqua-tint, 
and  he  published  his  Welsh  sketches  in  this  style  of  engraving. 
In  1780  he  produced  his  engraved  Vieivs  in  the  Encamp- 
ments in  the  Parks,  and  gave  evidence  of  the  great  perfection 
to  which  he  had  brought  this  art.  Many  of  his  best  works  are 
carefully  finished  with  the  pen,  and  his  figures  are  well  in- 
troduced and  boldly  drawn.  In  later  life  he  seems  to  have 
been  influenced  for  good  by  the  art  of  Cozens,  though  he  never 
entirely  adopted  the  modern  method  of  pure  water-colour. 
Sandby  was  fond  of  the  society  of  his  brother  artists,  many  of 
whom  were  among  his  warmest  friends,  and  he  was  widely 
known  and  talked  about  in  his  day.  His  work  however  does 
not  entitle  him  to  high  rank  among  the  founders  of  the 
water-colour  school.  Many  of  his  best  drawings  were  executed 
in  the  vicinity  of  Windsor  and  Eton. 

William  Alexander  was  in  his  method  of  working  also  essen- 
tially a  topographer,  but  he  was  no  doubt  a  keen  observer  of 
nature,  and  his  Chinese  subjects  are  many  of  them  skilfully 
painted  with  a  nice  feeling  for  local  colour.  Concerning  the  de- 
tails of  this  artist's  life  we  learn  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  coach- 
maker,  and  was  educated  at  the  Grammar  School  of  Maidstone, 
in  which  town  he  was  born  in  1767.  He  came  to  London  in 
1782  to  study  as  an  artist,  and  he  worked  first  under  William 
Pars,  and  subsequently,  after  the  death  of  Pars,  under  Ibbetson. 
In  1784  he  was  admitted  a  student  of  the  Royal  Academy.  He 
left  England  in  1792,  having  been  appointed  the  draughtsman 
to  Lord  Macartney's  Chinese  mission,  and  remained  abroad 
two  years.  On  his  return  he  married,  but  his  young  wife 
died  soon  after,  and  her  death  proved  a  terrible  blow  to  him 
and  left  a  lasting  impression  on  his  character.  He  was 
appointed   professor  of    landscape   drawing    to   the  Royal 


c 


WILLIAM  ALEXANDER. 


19 


Military  Academy  in  1802,  and  in  1808  resigned  this  office, 
having  been  selected  as  an  assistant  keeper  in  the  department 
of  antiquities  at  the  British  Museum.  For  many  years  he  had 
charge  of  the  prints  and  drawings,  of  which  collection  he  was 
the  first  keeper.  He  turned  his  Chinese  travels  to  rare 
account,  for  in  1797  Sir  George  Staunton's  description  of  the 
Chinese  embassy  was  illustrated  with  engravings  from  his 
designs.  He  published  between  the  years  1798-1805  many 
masterly  collections  of  etchings  depicting  Chinese  life  and 
character,  and  in  the  former  of  these  years  he  issued  a  series 
of  drawings  representing  Chinese  scenery.  He  furnished  the 
illustrations  to  Barrow's  Travels  in  China  which  appeared  in 

1804,  and  the  Cochin  China  of  that  author  issued  in  1806. 
His  own  work  on  the  Costumes  of  China  was  published  in 

1805.  He  laboured  hard  at  the  British  Museum  in  preparing 
accurate  drawings  of  the  antiquities,  sculptures,  terra-cottas, 
&c,  which  came  out  at  various  intervals  between  the  years 
1810-1815,  and  he  produced  many  views  for  the  Beauties  of 
Great  Britain,  Architectural  Antiquities,  and  the  Britannia 
Depicta.  He  died  at  Maidstone  at  the  age  of  forty-nine  of 
brain  fever  on  the  23rd  July,  1816,  and  was  buried  at 
Boxley. 

Alexander  was  a  distinguished  antiquary  as  well  as  an 
artist  and  a  gentleman  of  cultivated  tastes;  his  water-colours 
are  minutely  finished,  and  bear  abundant  evidences  of  extreme 
accuracy  and  great  powers  of  observation.  He  worked  at  first 
wholly  on  the  method  of  the  topographers,  and  used  the  peu 
freely  in  his  earlier  drawings,  which  were  delicately  shaded  in 
Indian  ink,  the  local  colour  being  charmingly  touched  in  at 
times.  He  was  an  architectural  draughtsman  of  great  skill,  as 
evinced  by  his  views  of  ancient  buildings,  and  his  Chinese 

c  2 


20 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


sketches  are  instinct  with  life  and  character.  We  have 
reproduced  one  of  these  scenes  from  a  drawing  in  the  British 
Museum,  depicting  a  river  or  canal  crowded  with  boats  and 
junks,  the  perspective  of  which  is  clever,  and  which  will  serve 
to  give  a  good  idea  of  his  early  manner.  Two  of  his  Chinese 
views  are  in  the  historical  collection  at  South  Kensington. 

John  Webber,  P.  A.,  born  in  1752,  was  another  of  the  group 
of  artists  who  mark  the  transition  from  the  earlier  or  stained 
manner  to  the  present  method  of  water-colour  painting.  He 
was  the  son  of  a  Swiss  artist,  and  was  born  in  London,  but 
studied  for  five  years  in  Paris.  On  his  return  to  England  he- 
accompanied  Captain  Cook  in  1776  on  his  last  voyage,  and 
was  absent  for  four  years.  During  this  period  he  worked 
most  industriously  at  his  art,  and  subsequently  exhibited 
many  of  his  sketches  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  became  an 
associate  of  the  Academy  in  1785,  and  in  1791  was  elected  a 
full  member.  In  such  of  his  works  as  have  come  under  our 
notice  the  colour  is  feeble,  and  the  old  influence  is  clearly 
manifest.    He  died  in  1793. 

This  would  appear  to  be  the  place  to  allude  briefly  to  the 
career  of  Edward  Dayes  who  was  a  pupil  of  Pether,  and  who 
as  a  writer  on  water-colour  painting,  and  a  well-known  teacher 
in  his  time,  being  able  to  number  Girtin  among  his  pupils,  was 
not  without  his  influence  on  the  art.  He  began  as  a  topo- 
grapher, but  he  drew  the  figure  with  taste  and  skill,  and 
he  painted  well  in  miniature.  He  was  a  frequent  exhibitor  at 
the  Poyal  Academy  from  1786  onwards,  and  in  his  later  years 
he  produced  some  fine  specimens  of  true  water-colour  drawings. 
Dayes  died  by  his  own  hand  in  1804.  We  have  already 
mentioned  his  Instructions  for  Drawing  and  Colouring  Land- 
scapes, published  after  his  death  by  his  widow  in  1808.  He 


THOMAS  HEARNE. 


23 


also  wrote  An  Excursion  through  Derbyshire  and  Yorkshire,  and 
produced  some  excellent  mezzotint  engravings.  We  illustrate 
his  art  by  one  of  his  works  in  the  British  Museum  collection, 
a  pleasant  little  drawing  of  a  Cottage  at  Cor  wen,  Monmouth. 

Thomas  Hearne,  born  near  Malmesbury  in  1744,  belongs 
also  to  this  period,  and  distinguished  himself  above  all  his 
contemporaries  by  the  excellence  of  his  topographical  and 
antiquarian  drawings.  He  first  studied  as  an  engraver,  but 
accompanied  the  Governor  of  the  Leeward  Islands  in  1771,  and 
remained  with  him  for  over  three  years,  engaged  in  drawing 
and  sketching  the  lovely  scenery  of  the  West  Indies,  which 
gave  a  new  direction  to  his  art.  On  his  return  he  worked 
with  Byrne  on  The  Antiquities  of  Great  Britain.  We  have 
selected  from  the  British  Museum  collection  a  small  drawing 
of  Carisbroohe  Castle,  which  is  a  good  example  of  his  style,  and 
which  was  perhaps  intended  for  the  above  work.  He  was  a 
prolific  draughtsman,  but  scarcely  rose  beyond  the  best  efforts 
of  topographical  art.  He  died  in  London  in  1817,  and  was 
buried  at  the  expense  of  his  friend  Dr.  Monro,  to  whom  the 
rising  school  of  water-colour  painters  owed  a  deep  debt  of 
gratitude,  and  of  whose  name  we  shall  have  to  make  frequent 
mention. 

In  thus  singling  out  for  description  a  few  of  the  prominent 
artists  of  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  rise  of  the 
modern  water-colour  school,  we  have  endeavoured  by  a  brief 
review  of  their  work  to  indicate  how,  by  almost  insensible 
degrees,  the  washed  drawings  of  the  topographers  became 
merged  into  the  coloured  drawings  of  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  we  shall  in  our  next  chapter  discuss 
the  art  of  some  of  the  early  masters  and  the  founders  of  water- 
colour  painting  as  now  practised  in  England. 


CHAPTER  II. 


John  E.  Cozens — John  Smith  (Warwick  Smith)— Thomas  Gir- 
tin — Girtin's  Method  of  Working — His  Cartridge  Paper — 
Letter  from  Professor  Buskin. 

In  the  foregoing  account  of  the  early  period  of  the  art  of 
water-colour  painting  in  this  country,  we  have  seen  how  the 
tinted  style  of  the  topographers  appears  to  have  laid  the 
foundation  for  a  more  faithful  rendering  of  nature,  or  one 
in  which  the  true  local  colouring  was  represented.  This 
practice  grew  out  of  the  earlier  methods  of  working,  and 
gradually  developed  into  the  modern  style  of  water-colour  draw- 
ing. The  tinted  work  of  the  topographers  did  not  naturally 
become  all  at  once  extinct,  but  lingered  on  for  many 
years  side  by  side  with  the  improved  and  richer  colouring 
of  the  younger  men,  and  we  have  now  to  deal  with  the 
art  of  those  masters  in  whose  able  hands  the  new  style,  if 
we  may  so  term  it,  gained  strength  and  vigour  and  became  a 
noble  and  living  art. 

Doubtless  the  foundation  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1768 
was  not  without  its  influence  on  water-colour  painting,  though 
in  all  that  concerns  the  patronage  of  this  art  it  had,  as  far 
as  we  can  judge,  but  little  effect.    The  painters  in  oil  retained 


JOHN  ROBERT  COZENS. 


25 


the  best  rooms  for  their  own  pictures,  and  the  water-colour 
drawings  were  relegated  to  a  clingy  room  on  the  lower  floor 
of  Somerset  House.  This  has  been  described  as  a  species 
of  condemned  cell,  which  the  water-colours  shared  with  those 
oil  pictures  for  which  space  could  not  be  found  on  the 
principal  floor.  The  scant  courtesy  shown  to  painters  in 
water-colours  led,  as  we  shall  see  later,  to  the  establishment 
of  the  earliest  Water-Colour  Society,  but  between  that  event 
and  the  decline  of  topography  there  was  a  long  interval, 
during  which  the  new  art  was  making  giant  strides.  It  may 
be  well  to  single  out  for  notice  a  few  names  among  the  many 
distinguished  artists  who  worked  at  this  time  and  contributed 
to  the  progress  and  development  of  the  art.  Foremost  among 
those  who  constitute  a  kind  of  connecting-link  between  the 
old  art  and  the  new  was  John  R.  Cozens  [1752-1799],  whose 
father,  Alexander  Cozens,  also  an  artist,  was  the  natural  son  of 
Peter  the  Great,  by  an  Englishwoman  whose  acquaintance  the 
Czar  formed  while  he  was  studying  the  art  of  ship-building  at 
Deptford.  Young  Cozens  gave  early  promise  of  ability  as  a 
painter,  for  Leslie  tells  us  in  his  Handbook  that  he  had  seen  a 
"  small  pen  drawing  of  three  figures  on  which  is  written  '  Done 
by  John  Cozens,  1761,  when  nine  years  old.'  "  Cozens  made 
good  use  of  a  visit  to  Italy  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  Beckford, 
in  whose  service  all  the  best  years  of  his  life  were  spent,  and 
his  Italian  pictures  are  full  of  poetry  and  painter-like  qualities, 
rising  in  these  respects  far  above  the  rather  commonplace  art 
of  the  topographers. 

We  are  enabled  to  reproduce  an  interesting  example 
of  his  work  about  this  period,  the  Scene  in  the  Camjmgna, 
which,  together  with  several  other  drawings  by  him,  forms 
part  of  the  collection  bequeathed  to  the  South  Kensington 


26 


WATER-COLOUR  PATNTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Museum  by  Mr.  Dyce — No.  705.  This  fine  work  contains 
in  the  warm  shadows  and  the  foreground  tints  many 
indications  of  the  approach  to  true  local  colouring,  while 
retaining  in  the  handling  of  the  sky  and  the  distance  the 
mannerism  of  the  earlier  school.  Cozens  was  one  of  the  many 
painters  assisted  and  encouraged  by  Dr.  Monro,  and  after 
the  loss  of  his  reason  in  1794  he  was  generously  supported 
until  his  death  by  Sir  George  Beaumont.  His  Italian  sketches, 
executed  for  Mr.  Beckford  to  the  number  of  ninety-four,  were 
sold  at  Christie's  in  1805,  and  realised  £510.  His  art  has 
been  highly  commended  by  such  competent  critics  as  Constable 
and  Leslie ;  the  former  artist  once  declared  that  "  his  works 
were  all  poetry,"  and  that  he  was  "the  greatest  genius  that 
ever  touched  landscape/'  and  Leslie  praises  him  in  scarcely 
less  measured  terms.  He  certainly  makes  us  feel  how  much 
is  possible  in  the  art  of  the  water-colour  painter  without 
recourse  to  local  colour.  Turner  asserted  concerning  a  picture 
which  had  been  exhibited  by  Cozens  at  the  Royal  Academy 
in  1776  that  "  he  had  learned  more  from  it  than  anything  he 
had  seen."  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  where  this  picture 
was  visible,  at  a  time  when  Turner  would  be  of  an  age  to 
appreciate  it.  Perhaps  it  was  among  the  treasures  in  the 
collection  of  Dr.  Monro. 

Another  painter  of  the  school  of  the  transition  whose  works 
had  an  undoubted  influence  in  advancing  the  progress  of  the 
art  was  John  Smith,  familiarly  known  by  his  contemporaries, 
as  we  have  seen,  as  "  Warwick  "  Smith.  He  was  a  native  of 
Irthington  in  Cumberland,  and  though  brought  up  in  the  tradi- 
tions of  the  topographers  he  almost  wholly  emancipated  himself 
from  the  mere  tinted  style,  and  in  his  most  mature  work  used 
local  colour  freely  and  boldly.    He  leaned  rather  towards  mere 


"  WARWICK  "  SMITH. 


20 


prettiness  in  art,  and  had  a  considerable  appreciation  of  elegance 
in  composition.  Some  of  his  small  and  minute  Italian  sketches 
in  the  historical  collection  at  South  Kensington  have  however 
a  pleasing  freshness  and  charm.  He  became  a  member  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society  in  1806,  and  subsequently  in  1816  was 
elected  its  president.  He  continued  to  reside  in  London  until 
his  death  in  1831,  at  the  ripe  age  of  eighty-two. 

It  is  no  easy  matter  to  assign  to  each  of  the  artists  of  this 
period  his  due  relative  share  in  the  changed  methods  of  work- 
ing. Speaking  only  from  the  drawings  of  John  Smith  which 
have  come  under  our  notice,  we  should  regard  the  statement 
concerning  him,  quoted  from  the  Review  of  Publications  of  Fine 
Art,  viz.  that  "  he  is  the  father  of  the  system  of  colouring  on 
paper  which  at  present  prevails  almost  universally,"  to  be 
highly  exaggerated,  for  in  the  most  important  of  his  drawings 
at  Kensington,  the  Vol  d'Aosta,  No.  454,  painted  in  1803,  when 
the  new  style  of  working  had  become  firmly  established,  the 
execution  is  cramped  and  commonplace,  and  in  his  best  period 
in  our  estimation  he  fell  far  short  of  Girtin. 

The  authors  of  the  Century  of  Painters  have  very  carefully 
described  the  above  picture,  and  we  venture  to  reproduce  the 
account  they  there  give  of  the  method  of  working  pursued  by 
Smith.  They  say  "  This  large  picture  is  a  studio  work,  and  has 
none  of  the  freshness  of  nature  or  of  his  own  earlier  tinted 
drawings;  the  general  colour  is  a  neutral  brown-yellow  or 
brown- green  \  the  shadows  of  the  trees,  foreground  etc.,  have 
the  grey  mingled  with  the  local  colour,  an  advance  on  the 
former  method  \  the  lights  of  the  foliage  are  largely  taken  out 
and  there  is  an  evident  attempt  to  work  in  the  new  manner 
described  by  Dayes  who,  after  explaining  the  practice  of  tinting 
says  the  other  method  is  <  by  the  dead-colouring  the  drawing 


30 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


all  over,  making  light,  shade,  and  middle  tint,  as  is  done  in  oil- 
painting  (only  preserving  the  lights)  and  which  is  of  course  the 
most  complex,  and  so  proceed  strengthening  each  part  until  the 
whole  is  finished.'  " 

The  most  undoubted  genius  of  the  early  English  water-colour 
school  wras  Thomas  Girtin,  who  during  his  brief  career  gave 
evidence  of  a  power  far  in  advance  of  most  of  his  contempora- 
ries. He  was  a  Londoner,  born  in  Southwark  in  1775,  and 
he  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  life  in  the  metropolis,  visiting 
however  from  time  to  time  the  most  paintable  parts  of  England 
and  Wales  and  even  extending  his  excursions  to  Scotland. 
Girtin  seems  to  have  painted  with  great  rapidity,  and  contrary 
to  the  practice  of  his  clay  he  is  said  to  have  generally  com- 
pleted his  drawings  on  the  spot.  He  was  first  taught  by  a 
drawing-master  of  the  name  of  Fisher,  and  he  subsequently 
studied  under  Dayes.  He  also  owed  much  to  Dr.  Monro,  who 
lived  in  the  Adelphi  Terrace,  and  besides  being  himself  a 
noted  connoisseur,  possessed  a  valuable  collection  of  paintings 
which  he  encouraged  his  proteges  to  copy.  The  doctor  gathered 
round  him  a  school  of  young  painters,  among  whom  were,  as  we 
have  seen,  Cozens,  as  also  Francia,  Yarley,  Edridge,  and  Turner. 
They  met  at  his  house  on  stated  evenings  for  the  purpose  of 
study,  and  constituted  a  species  of  sketching  club.  We  learn 
again  and  again,  in  glimpses  of  the  artistic  biography  of  this 
period,  of  the  many  kind  actions  of  Dr.  Monro,  and  his  house 
towards  the  close  of  the  century  was  a  veritable  rallying  point 
for  the  rising  artists  of  the  day. 

Girtin,  if  not  the  originator  of  a  new  style  of  working,  was 
at  any  rate  the  first  who  successfully  attempted  to  represent  in 
water  colours  the  grandeur  and  sublimity  of  mountain  scenery, 
and  to  imitate  the  bold  contrasts  of  light  and  shadow,  of  gloom 


THOMAS  GIRTIN. 


31 


and  sunshine  which  occur  in  nature.  He  seems  to  have  been 
fascinated  with  these  effects,  and  to  have  sacrificed  all  other 
considerations  in  his  attempt  to  transfer  them  to  his  portfolio. 
He  avoided  and  even  suppressed  minute  details,  and  lays 
himself  open  to  the  charge  of  slovenliness  from  the  broad 
generalisations  he  affected.  He  had  certain  recipes,  like  most 
artists,  which  led  to  undoubted  mannerisms  in  his  work  ;  thus 
he  forced  his  high  lights  at  the  expense  of  masses  of  broad 
shadow,  for  which  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  account,  but  if 
we  compare  his  sunny  landscapes  with  the  tame  and  thready 
work  of  the  topographers  we  shall  appreciate  the  vast  step  in 
advance  he  was  able  to  achieve  upon  the  best  performances  of 
the  earlier  masters.  He  was,  with  Turner,  one  of  the  first 
artists  to  realise  the  important  gain  in  the  matter  of  crispness 
to  be  secured  by  working  with  a  full  brush.  He  was  fond  of 
opposing  warm  and  cold  tints,  and  made  large  use  of  indigo, 
which  subsequent  investigations  have  shown  us  to  be  a  most 
treacherous  colour  in  point  of  stability.  Girtin  had  a  true  eye 
for  pleasing  contrasts  of  colour,  and  his  tints  were  generally 
harmonious  and  well  chosen. 

It  is  sometimes  difficult,  owing  to  the  faded  state  of  their 
works,  to  pronounce  an  opinion  upon  the  methods  of  the  older 
masters  in  respect  to  the  mixture  of  their  colours  and  their 
modes  of  wrorking. 

In  the  first  volume  of  the  Somerset  House  Gazette  a  detailed 
account  is  given  of  Girtin' s  mode  of  working,  which  no  doubt 
relates  to  his  practice  during  the  later  years  of  his  life,  and 
which  is  most  valuable  as  affording  an  indication  of  the 
technique  of  the  art  at  that  date.  He  began  with  the  sky — ■ 
"  The  azure  spaces  were  washed  with  a  mixture  of  indigo  and 
lake,  and  the  shadows  of  the  clouds  with  light  red  and  indigo, 


32 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


Indian  red  and  indigo,  and  an  occasional  addition  of  lake. 
The  warm  tone  of  the  cartridge  paper  frequently  served  for  the 
lights  without  tinting,  acquiring  additional  warmth  by  being 
opposed  to  the  cool  colour  of  the  azure  and  shadow  of  the 
clouds.  .  .  .  When  he  had  accomplished  the  laying-in  of  the 
sky,  he  would  proceed  with  great  facility  in  the  general 
arrangement  of  his  tints  on  the  buildings,  trees,  water,  and 
other  objects.  Every  colour  appeared  to  be  placed  with  a  most 
judicious  perception  to  effecting  a  general  union  or  harmony. 
His  light  stone  tints  were  put  in  with  thin  washes  of  Roman 
ochre  and  the  same  mixed  with  light  red,  and  certain  spaces 
free  from  the  warm  tints  were  touched  with  grey,  composed 
of  light  red  and  indigo,  or,  brighter  still,  with  ultramarine  and 
light  red.  The  brick  buildings  with  Roman  ochre,  light  red 
and  lake,  and  a  mixture  of  Roman  ochre,  lake  and  indigo,  or 
Roman  ochre,  madder  brown  and  indigo  ;  also  with  burnt 
sienna  and  Roman  ochre,  madder  brown  and  Roman  ochre  and 
these  colours  in  all  their  combinations.  For  finishing  the 
buildings  which  came  the  nearest  to  the  foreground,  where  the 
local  colour  and  form  were  intended  to  be  represented  with 
particular  force  and  effect,  vandyck  brown  and  Cologne  earth 
were  combined  with  these  tints,  w  hich  gave  depth  and  richness 
of  tones  that  raised  the  scale  of  effect,  without  the  least  dimi- 
nution of  harmony — on  the  contrary,  the  richness  of  effect  was 
increased  from  their  glowing  warmth,  by  neutralizing  the 
previous  tones  and  by  throwing  them  into  their  respective 
distances  or  into  proper  keeping.  The  trees,  which  he  fre- 
quently introduced  into  his  views,  exhibiting  all  the  varieties 
of  autumnal  hues,  he  coloured  with  corresponding  harmony  to 
the  scale  of  richness  exhibited  on  his  buildings.  The  greens 
for  these  operations  were  composed  of  gamboge,  indigo,  and 


THOMAS  GIRTIN. 


3:] 


burnt  sienna,  occasionally  heightened  with  yellow  lake,  brown 
pink  and  gamboge,  these  mixed  too  sometimes  with  Prussian 
blue.  The  shadows  for  the  trees  with  indigo  and  burnt  sienna, 
and  with  a  most  beautiful  harmonious  shadow  tint,  composed 
of  grey  and  madder  brown,  which  perhaps  is  nearer  to  the 
general  tone  of  the  shadow  of  trees  than  any  other  combina- 
tions that  can  be  formed  with  water  colours.  Girtin  made  his 
greys  sometimes  with  Venetian  red  and  indigo,  Indian  red  and 
indigo,  and  a  most  useful  and  harmonious  series  of  warm  and 
cool  greys,  of  Roman  ochre,  indigo  and  lake,  which,  used 
judiciously,  will  serve  to  represent  the  basis  for  every  species 
of  subject  and  effect,  as  viewed  in  the  middle  grounds  under 
the  influence  of  that  painter's  atmosphere  so  prevalent  in  the 
autumnal  season  in  our  humid  climate,  which  occasionally 
exhibits  to  the  picturesque  eye  the  charms  of  rich  effects  in  a 
greater  variety  than  any  country  in  Europe. "  No  wonder  that 
we  read  further  that  "  His  palette  was  covered  with  a  greater 
variety  of  tints  than  almost  any  of  his  contemporaries.' '  No 
less  than  fifteen  pigments  are  included  in  the  above  description, 
a  number  which  would  probably  satisfy  most  of  the  water- 
colour  painters  of  the  present  day,  and  one  far  in  excess  of 
those  in  common  use  by  the  earlier  masters  of  the  art. 

Girtin  was  fond  of  a  peculiar  quality  of  coarse,  wire-laid 
cartridge  paper,  which  was  sold  by  a  stationer  at  Charing 
Cross,  and  which  was  folded  up  the  middle  into  quires.  This 
crease  was  the  cause,  very  often,  of  a  darker  tint  in  sky  and 
landscape,  owing  to  the  wearing  away  of  the  size  at  the  place 
where  the  paper  was  folded,  and  we  learn  that  this  defect 
came  in  time  to  be  prized  by  connoisseurs  as  a  proof  of 
authenticity  in  works  thus  marked.  The  dark  line  caused  in 
this  way  may  be  plainly  observed  in  one  of  the  drawings  at 

n 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


South  Kensington,  the  View  of  Cliepstow  Castle,  and  the  coarse 
markings  of  the  paper  are  also  very  perceptible.  Girtin,  who 
was  a  frequent  exhibitor  at  the  Academy  from  1794  onwards, 
sent  his  last  picture  to  the  exhibition  of  1801.  This  work 
was  in  oil,  a  medium  he  adopted  on  rare  occasions  towards  the 
end  of  his  life,  when  he  produced  also  a  panorama  of  London. 
The  canvas  was  painted  from  the  roof  of  the  Albion  Flour  Mills, 
and  it  was  on  view  at  the  time  of  his  death,  which  took  place 
fromheart  disease,  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-seven,  on  November 
9th,  1802.  He  had  married  in  1800,  and  shortly  afterwards  was 
compelled  to  go  abroad  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He  visited 
Paris  just  after  the  Peace  of  Amiens,  and  produced  there  a 
number  of  vigorous  drawings  which  were  purchased  by  the  Earl 
of  Essex,  and  by  him  presented  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford.  Some 
of  these  views  were  subsequently  engraved  and  published  by 
his  brother  John,  after  Girtin's  death,  in  1803. 

Contemporary  writers  have  charged  Girtin  with  excesses, 
and  with  leading  a  wild,  irregular  life,  and  this  seems  to  some 
extent  borne  out  by  the  fact  that  he  was  a  boon  companion  of 
the  unfortunate  Morland  ;  but  he  was  of  a  shy  and  retiring 
disposition,  and  he  may  at  times  have  been  led  to  seek  the 
company  of  his  inferiors.  If  he  was  dissipated,  he  at  any  rate 
worked  hard,  for  the  number  of  his  drawings  is  very  considerable. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  of  a  kind  and  friendly  disposition,  and 
he  was  known  to  his  intimates  as  "  honest  Tom."  Girton's 
services  were  in  much  request  as  a  fashionable  teacher,  and  he 
found  many  friends  among  the  wealthy  and  noble  patrons  of 
water-colour  painting.  He  was  for  a  time  the  travel  ling  *  com- 
panion of  Mr.  James  Moore,  the  well-known  antiquary  ;  he 
taught  sketching  to  Lady  Gower  and  Lady  Long,  who  after- 
wards became  Lady  Farnborough,  while  the  Earl  of  Harewood 


O 

W 
H 


O 
ft 


W 

EH 

O 
FH 


ft 

W 

o 


O 


THOMAS  GIRTIN. 


37 


not  only  gave  him  the  advantage  of  his  society,  but  had  a 
room  kept  for  his  exclusive  use  at  Harewood  House,  where  he 
lived  for  long  periods  together  ;  and  where,  according  to  Mr. 
Jenkins,  he  made  some  of  his  most  important  drawings.  He 
was  also  patronised  by  the  Hon.  Spencer  Cowper,  Lord 
Hardwicke,  the  Earls  of  Mulgrave  and  Buchan,  and  General 
Phipps. 

Our  artist  has  been  credited,  on  somewhat  slender  grounds, 
with  the  formation  of  a  sketching  society  of  young  painters, 
which  met  at  Great  Newport  Street ;  a  minute  of  the  first 
meeting  of  this  society  on  May  20th,  1799,  is  preserved  on  the 
back  of  a  water-colour  drawing,  by  Francia,  at  the  South  Ken- 
sington Museum.  Many  of  Girtin's  best  works  passed  into 
the  hands  of  the  aforesaid  brother,  John,  who  acted  as  his 
intermediary  with  buyers,  and  shortly  after  his  death  the  house 
where  this  brother  resided  in  Castle  Street,  Leicester  Square* 
was  burnt  down,  and  with  it  a  large  collection  of  Girtin's 
drawings.  The  subject  we  have  selected  to  represent  this  artist, 
A  View  of  Ripon  Cathedral,  forms  part  of  the  collection  at  the 
British  Museum,  where  many  fine  examples  of  his  art  are  pre- 
served. The  cathedral  seen  from  the  S.W.  occupies  the  middle 
distance  of  a  broadly-treated  landscape,  bright  and  sunny  in 
effect ;  the  foliage  however  is  somewhat  mechanical  in  treat- 
ment. From  its  general  handling  we  believe  this  to  be  one  of 
his  earlier  works,  probably  undertaken  during  one  of  his  tours 
to  the  north,  and  painted  on  the  spot. 

It  is  interesting  to  record  the  fact  that  some  unknown 
friend,  who  it  is  suggested  may  have  been  Turner,  erected  a 
monument  over  his  remains  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Paul's, 
Covent  Garden.  The  age  on  his  tombstone  is  stated  at  twenty- 
seven,  which  would  place  the  year  of  his  birth  in  1775  and  not 


38 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


in  1773,  a  date  which  has  been  adopted  by  several  of  his 
biographers. 

We  cannot  dismiss  the  account  of  this  artist  without  a  pass- 
ing tribute  to  his  influence  on  the  rising  school  of  water-colour 
painters.  Though  his  contemporary  Turner,  in  the  course  of  a 
long  life,  which  was  denied  to  Girtinr  achieved  undying  fame, 
we  feel  that  he  owed  much  to  a  careful  study  of  Girtin's 
methods,  and  it  is  difficult  to  over  estimate  the  importance  of 
the  work  of  a  Girtin  at  this  period  of  the  art.  With  respect 
to  the  benefits  conferred  by  him  upon  Turner,  the  following- 
letter  from  Professor  Buskin  to  Girton's  great  grandson,  Mr. 
F.  P.  Barnard,  quoted  by  Mr.  Cosmo  Monkhouse  in  his 
Earlier  English  Water- Col  our  Painters,  bears  important 
testimony. 

u  Brantwood,  Coniston,  Lancashire. 
"  16th  June,  1887. 
"  Dear  Sir, — I  have  the  deepest  and  fondest  regard  for  your 
great-grandfather's  w  ork,  holding  it  to  be  entirely  authoritative 
and  faultless  as  a  type,  not  only  of  pure  water-colour  execu- 
tion, but  also  of  pure  artistic  feeling  and  insight  into  what  is 
noblest  and  most  capable  of  enduring  dignity  in  familiar  sub- 
jects. He  is  often  as  impressive  to  me  as  Nature  herself ;  nor 
do  I  doubt  that  Turner  owTed  more  to  his  teaching  and  com- 
panionship than  to  his  own  genius  in  the  first  years  of  his  life. 

"  Believe  me, 

"  Your  faithful  servant, 

"  John  Buskin." 


CHAPTER  III. 


Francis  W heatley,  R.A. — William  Hamilton,  12. A. — Sawrey 
Gilpin,  E.A. — John  Hamilton  Mortimer,  A.E.A. — William 
Pars,  A.  11. A. — Michael  Angelo  Booker,  A. R.A. — Samuel 
H.  Grimm  —  William  Marlow — John  Cleveley — Robert 
Cleveley — John  Alexander  Gresse — Julius  Ccesar  Ibbetson 
— Thomas  Stothard,  R.A. —  William  BlaK. 

Before  we  pass  from  the  period  of  the  transition  which, 
beginning  with  the  methods  of  the  topographers  ended  with 
the  employment  of  transparent  local  colour,  the  characteristic 
treatment  of  the  English  school  of  water-colour  painting,  we 
must  glance  at  the  works  of  certain  men  who,  though  usually 
classed  among  the  oil  painters,  were  none  the  less  true  ex- 
ponents of  the  art  of  water-colour,  and  to  whom  we  owe  many 
beautiful  and  interesting  drawings.  Foremost  among  these 
artists  we  must  place  Francis  Wheatley,  R.A.,  who  was  born 
in  the  vicinity  of  Covent  Garden  in  1747.  He  was  the  son  of 
a  tailor,  who  early  perceived  the  boy's  fondness  for  art,  and 
placed  him  under  a  good  drawing  master.  He  subsequently 
worked  at  Shipley's  school  and  became  a  student  of  the  Royal 
Academy.  He  distinguished  himself  greatly  thus  early  in  his 
career  and  carried  off  several  of  the  premiums  of  the  Society 
of  Arts,  which  at  all  times  seem  to  have  proved  valuable 


40 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


incentives  to  rising  artists.  While  quite  a  young  man 
Wheatley  formed  some  very  imprudent  friendships,  and  was 
led  into  extravagance  and  debt,  though  his  undoubted  talent 
procured  him  constant  employment.  Among  other  engage- 
ments he  assisted  Mortimer  in  painting  the  ceiling  of  Brocket 
Hall,  for  Lord  Melbourne,  and  he  also  took  part  in  the 
decoration  of  Yauxhall.  Forced  eventually  to  quit  London 
in  order  to  escape  from  his  creditors,  he  fled  to  Dublin  with 
the  wife  of  a  friend  with  whom  he  had  formed  a  liaison.  In 
Dublin  he  met  with  considerable  success,  and  painted  a  large 
canvas  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons,  but  on  the  exposure 
of  the  deception  he  had  practised  by  the  introduction  as  his 
wife  of  the  lady  who  had  accompanied  him,  he  was  compelled 
to  leave  Ireland,  and  he  then  returned  to  London.  He  appears 
to  have  speedily  found  employment  as  a  portrait  painter,  in 
which  art  he  became  very  proficient.  In  working  in  water- 
colour,  which  he  practised  largely  for  book -illustration  and 
similar  purposes,  he  drew  in  the  outlines  with  the  pen,  washed 
in  the  shadows  with  Indian  ink,  and  added  the  local  colour  in 
slight  tints.  His  works  were  very  popular,  and  many  of  them 
have  been  engraved.  He  himself  was  an  etcher  and  scraped 
in  mezzotint.  In  the  last  few  years  of  his  life  he  was  a 
martyr  to  gout,  and  was  compelled  to  become  a  pensioner  on 
the  Royal  Academy,  of  which  he  had  been  elected  an  associate 
in  1790,  and  a  full  member  in  1791.  He  died  in  June,  1801, 
at  the  age  of  fifty-four.  The  landscapes  of  Wheatley  evince 
considerable  taste,  and  he  excels  in  the  grouping  of  his  figures, 
but  his  rustics,  especially  the  females,  are  meretricious  and 
unreal.  We  have  selected  for  illustration  The  Little  Gleaners, 
which  forms  part  of  the  British  Museum  collection,  and  will 
serve  to  give  a  good  idea  of  the  nature  of  his  art. 


WILLIAM  HAMILTON  SAW  KEY  GILPIN. 


43 


William  Hamilton,  K.A.  was  another  member  of  the 
Academy  who  worked  both  in  oil  and  water-colours,  and  enjoyed 
considerable  success  as  a  portrait  painter.  He  was  also  much 
employed  as  a  book-illustrator,  and  was  very  popular  in  his 
day.  His  water-colour  drawings  are  tasteful  and  luminous, 
but  his  figures  lack  character,  and  his  female  figures  are  often 
tawdry  and  theatrical.  Hamilton  was  born  at  Chelsea  in 
1751,  and  studied  in  Italy  under  Zucchi,  and  subsequently  at 
the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy.  He  was  elected  an 
associate  in  1784,  and  in  1789  a  member  of  the  Academy.  He 
died  of  fever  in  1801,  and  was  buried  at  St.  Anne's  Church, 
Soho.  A  carriage  painted  by  him  for  Lord  Fitzgibbon,  for 
which  he  received  600  guineas,  is  now  in  the  South  Kensington 
Museum.  His  work  is,  perhaps,  best  known  in  connection 
with  Boy  dell's  Shakespeare,  for  which  he  designed  many  of 
the  illustrations. 

Sawrey  Gilpin,  B.  A.,  the  animal  painter,  was  likewise  one 
of  the  early  members  of  the  Academy  who  painted  largely 
in  water-colours.  Gilpin  was  descended  from  the  eminent 
Bernard  Gilpin,  called  the  "  Apostle  of  the  North,"  and  was 
born  at  Carlisle  in  1733.  Though  trained  for  a  business 
career,  his  predilections  for  art  led  him  to  become  a  pupil  of 
Scott,  the  marine  painter,  who  then  lived  close  to  Covent 
Garden,  and  in  this  neighbourhood  young  Gilpin  was  accus- 
tomed to  study  the  horses  in  the  market  carts,  and  he  thus 
acquired  a  fondness  for  drawing  animals.  In  1758  he  went 
to  Newmarket  and  acquired  a  reputation  for  his  portraits  of 
horses.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland,  then  ranger  of  Windsor 
Park,  took  a  fancy  for  the  young  artist,  and  gave  him  apart- 
ments with  every  facility  for  his  improvement.  He  was  for  a 
time  the  president  of  the  Incorporated  Society  of  Artists  and 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


in  1795  he  became  an  associate  of  the  Academy,  and  two  years 
later  a  full  member.  He  excelled  in  the  drawing  of  horses, 
but  his  studies  of  wild  animals  are  truthful  and  spirited.  He 
was  an  expert  etcher  and  a  successful  book-illustrator.  He 
designed  the  plates  for  a  book  by  his  brother,  the  Rev.  W. 
Gilpin,  the  Lives  of  the  Reformers,  and  likewise  for  his  work  on 
Forest  Scenery.  His  son,  W.  S.  Gilpin,  also  attained  to  emi- 
nence as  a  water-colour  painter.  Gilpin  spent  the  close  of  his 
life  at  the  country  seat  of  Mr.  Samuel  Whitbread,  but  died  at 
Brompton  in  March,  1807.  Two  of  his  drawings  in  the  collec- 
tion at  Kensington  are  in  the  old  stained  manner,  though  the 
sketch  of  Fonthill,  dated  1797,  has  considerable  local  colour. 

John  Hamilton  Mortimer,  A.R.A.,  born  at  Eastbourne  in 
1741,  imbibed  a  love  of  art  from  an  uncle  who  was  a  painter 
of  some  skill.  He  studied  under  Hudson,  and  later  at  the 
St.  Martin's  Lane  Academy.  He  obtained  several  of  the 
Society  of  Arts7  premiums,  and  though  looked  upon  as  of 
much  promise,  he  did  not  fulfil  the  anticipations  of  his  friends. 
He,  too,  like  Wheatley,  fell  into  extravagance  and  excess,  and 
though  at  one  time  elected  Vice-President  of  the  Incorporated 
Society,  he  painted  but  little.  In  1775  he  married  and  turned 
over  a  new  leaf,  settling  for  a  time  at  Aylesbury,  but  he  did 
not  long  survive,  and  died  of  fever  in  1779,  at  the  early  age 
thirty-eight.  He  never  in  his  water-colour  art,  by  which  he  is 
perhaps  best  known,  attained  to  the  perfection  of  the  later 
style ;  his  drawings  are  in  the  stained  manner,  but  they  are 
spirited  and  well  composed.  He  revelled  in  the  grotesque, 
and,  possessing  a  vivid  imagination,  delighted  to  depict  scenes 
of  violence  and  brigandage,  his  favourite  imaginings  being 
strained  imitations  of  Salvator  Rosa.  He  was  a  skilful  etcher, 
and  produced  many  plates  from  his  own  designs.    The  design 


MICHAEL  ANGELO  ROOKER. 


45 


of  the  great  window  of  Salisbury  Cathedral  was  executed  by 
him,  and  he  made  the  cartoons  for  the  stained  glass  at  Braze- 
nose  College,  Oxford. 

In  strict  historical  sequence  we  should  before  this  have 
mentioned  William  Pars,  A.R.A.,  born  in  1742,  a  portrait 
painter,  who  practised  also  in  water-colours  in  the  stained 
manner,  and  died  in  Rome  in  1782.  He  travelled  much  on 
the  continent,  where  he  successfully  delineated  the  ancient 
architectural  remains,  working  for  the  Dilettanti  Society  and 
for  Lord  Palmerston  ;  he  likewise  accompanied  Dr.  Chandler 
to  Greece.  Some  of  his  Swiss  views  have  been  engraved  by 
Woollett,  and  Sandby  reproduced  certain  of  his  drawings  in 
aqua-tint. 

Michael  Angelo  Hooker,  A.R.A.,  was  another  water-colour 
painter  who  entered  the  ranks  of  the  Academy.  He  was  the 
son  of  an  engraver,  born  in  London  in  1743,  and  brought  up 
by  his  father  to  succeed  him  in  his  profession.  He  studied 
under  Paul  Sandby,  and  from  the  date  of  his  admission  as  a 
student  (1709)  he  was  a  constant  exhibitor  of  water-colour 
views  at  the  Academy.  Hooker  attained  much  excellence  as 
an  engraver,  and  for  many  years  he  both  drew  and  engraved 
the  headings  of  the  Oxford  Almanack.  In  consequence  of 
injury  to  his  eyesight  he  had  to  relinquish  this  art,  when  he 
secured  the  appointment  of  principal  scene  painter  to  the 
Haymarket  Theatre.  Though  a  well-read  man  he  was  re- 
served in  his  manner  and  reluctant  to  display  his  drawings. 
He  is  said  to  have  become  dejected  by  the  loss  of  his  employ- 
ment at  the  theatre  and  to  have  never  rallied.  He  drew  with 
taste  and  skill,  and  his  works  are  graceful  and  well  composed. 
The  animals  and  figures  in  his  drawings  are  well  introduced, 
and  his  colouring  is  always  delicate  and  refined.    His  death 


46 


WATER-COLOUR   PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


took  place  in  1801.  His  works  were  subsequently  sold  by 
auction  and  realized  the  respectable  sum  of  £1,240. 

We  feel  conscious  that  we  have  omitted  many  men  belonging 
to  the  earlier  period  of  the  art,  who,  from  the  mere  historical 
point  of  view,  are  worthy  of  more  than  passing  mention, 
and  before  we  proceed  to  what  we  have  termed  the  middle 
period,  and  that  prior  to  the  foundation  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  which  we  have  dealt  with  as  a  period  of  transition,  we 
may  briefly  recall  a  few  names  of  the  older  masters  who  passed 
away  about  this  time. 

Samuel  H.  Grimm,  who  was  of  Swiss  parentage,  came  to 
London  with  his  father,  a  clever  miniature  painter,  about 
1778,  and  was  much  employed  in  topographical  work  for 
Sir  E.  Kaye,  Sir  William  Burrell,  and  others.  He  occa- 
sionally worked  for  the  Society  of  Antiquaries,  and  his  views 
of  Cowdray  House  are  published  in  the  Vetusta  Monumenta. 
Upwards  of  500  of  his  drawings,  mostly  in  pen  and  ink  and 
shaded  with  bistre,  were  sold  by  auction  after  his  death.  He 
was  a  good  caricaturist,  and  many  of  his  humorous  subjects 
were  published  by  Bowles.  Grimm  died  at  the  age  of  sixty 
in  1794,  and  was  buried  at  the  parish  church  of  Covent 
Garden.  His  work,  as  early  as  1778,  showed  an  extensive 
use  of  local  colour,  and  in  this  respect  he  was  considerably  in 
advance  of  his  contemporaries.  He  also  used  body  colour 
both  in  his  high  lights  and  in  his  clouds,  perhaps  a  reminiscence 
of  the  continental  yuash  drawing.  The  buildings  are  accurately 
drawn,  frequently  outlined  with  the  pen,  but  his  foliage  is 
stiff  and  mechanical. 

William  Marlow,  wdro  was  born  in  South wark,  in  1740, 
practised  both  in  oil  and  water-colours,  and  enjoyed  in  his 
day  a  considerable  reputation.    He  studied  under  Scott,  the 


JOHN  CLE  YE  LEY.  47 


marine  painter  and  friend  of  Hogarth,  and  afterwards  at  the 
St.  Martin's  Lane  Academy.  He  was  a  member  of  the  In- 
corporated Society  of  Artists,  and  exhibited  from  time  to 
time  at  the  Spring  Gardens  Rooms.  After  three  years  spent 
in  Italian  travel,  from  1765  to  1768,  at  the  advice  of  the 
Duchess  of  Northumberland,  who  was  an  admirer  of  his  art, 
he  established  himself  in  London,  and  became  an  exhibitor  at 
the  Royal  Academy.  He  painted  from  his  Italian  sketches, 
and  from  them  he  also  produced  some  successful  etchings.  His 
water-colours  are  rather  feeble,  in  the  early  stained  manner, 
but  some  of  his  views  on  the  Thames  are  truthful  and  delicate 
in  colour.  Several  of  his  best  works  are  at  the  Foundling 
Hospital.  He  realized  a  moderate  competence,  and  died  at 
Twickenham,  where  he  had  long  resided,  in  1813,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-three. 

Among  the  early  school  were  several  skilful  marine  painters 
— two  artists  bearing  the  name  of  Cleveley  specially  distin- 
guished themselves.  John  Cleveley,  born  in  London  about 
1745,  early  evinced  a  taste  for  art,  and  being  engaged  in  the 
dockyard  at  Deptford  had  his  inclinations  directed  towards 
marine  subjects.  He  studied  under  Paul  Sandby,  who  was 
the  professor  at  the- Royal  Military  School,  and  became  pro- 
ficient in  the  art  of  water-colour  painting.  He  was  a  frequent 
exhibitor  at  the  Academy  from  1770  onwards,  and  in  1774  he 
was  appointed  draughtsman  to  Captain  Phipps  in  his  voyage  of 
discovery  to  the  north  seas.  He  also  accompanied  Sir  Joseph 
Banks  on  a  subsequent  expedition  to  Iceland.  Towards  the 
close  of  his  life  he  resided  in  Pimlico,  and  his  death  took  place 
in  London  in  1786.  We  possess  works  by  him  both  in  oil  and 
water-colours,  but  he  excelled  in  the  latter  medium.  Many 
of  his  drawings  are  carefully  executed,  and  his  colouring  was 


48 


spirited  and  more  boldly  conceived  than  would  have  been 
expected  at  this  early  period. 

Another  Cleveley,  whose  Christian  name  was  Robert, 
painted  about  the  same  time,  but  we  are  unable  to  discover 
that  any  relationship  existed  between  these  artists.  Eobert 
Cleveley  also  exhibited  marine  subjects  at  the  Academy,  and 
he  practised  both  in  oil  and  water-colours.  He  achieved  con- 
siderable distinction  in  his  profession,  and  his  portrait  was 
painted  by  Beechey  and  afterwards  engraved.  We  learn  from 
the  print  that  he  was  marine  painter  to  His  Royal  Highness 
the  Prince  of  Wales.  He  died  from  a  fall  over  the  cliffs 
at  Dover  while  on  a  visit  to  a  relative  there,  in  1809. 
Robert  Cleveley  belongs  more  to  the  ranks  of  the  oil  painters, 
though  his  drawings  testify  to  the  possession  of  undoubted 
ability.  There  are  examples  by  both  the  Cleveleys  in  the 
collection  at  South  Kensington. 

John  Alexander  Gresse,  or  Greese,  as  the  name  is  some- 
times spelt,  was  born  in  London  in  1741,  though  his  parents 
were  foreigners.  He  was  brought  up  as  an  artist  and  studied 
under  Cipriani  and  Zuccarelli,  but  he  seems  to  have  lacked 
energy  and  perseverance,  and  did  not  fulfil  his  early  promise. 
He  became  in  later  life  a  fashionable  drawing-master,  and  he 
was  appointed  by  George  III.  to  teach  the  princesses.  Greese 
was  very  corpulent,  and  was  nicknamed  by  his  intimates 
"Jack  Grease. "  His  father,  a  man  of  property,  the  owner 
of  Gresse  Street,  Rathbone  Place,  was  able  to  leave  his  son 
in  comfortable  circumstances,  and  he  became  a  collector  of 
works  of  art,  and  amassed  a  collection  which  took  six  clays  to 
disperse  by  auction  after  his  death  in  1794.  There  is  in  the 
historical  collection  at  South  Kensington  an  unfinished  work 
by  Gresse,  which  is  well  worthy  of  attention  by  those  inte- 


V  x 

JULIUS   CESAR  TBBETSON. 


49 


rested  in  the  methods  of  the  earlier  masters.  It  bears  many 
evidences  of  being  a  true  study  from  nature  executed  out  of 
doors.  It  is  a  view  of  Llangollen  Bridge,  No.  1731-71.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  forms  have  been  at  first  carefully  and 
firmly  drawn  in  with  the  pen,  special  touches  and  methods  of 
handling  being  employed  to  indicate  variations  in  the  foliage, 
the  whole  is  then  broadly  made  out  into  masses  of  light  and 
dark  by  means  of  delicate  washes  of  Indian  ink.  The  next 
process  seems  to  have  been  the  deepening  of  the  shadows  by 
the  use  of  darker  tints  of  ink,  and  certain  portions  of  the 
mountains  and  middle  distance  have  then  been  completed  by 
passing  light  washes  of  true  local  colour  over  the  grey  ground. 
Part  of  the  foreground  remains  wholly  untouched,  but  the 
foliage  in  front  of  the  bridge  has  been  brought  nearly  to  com- 
pletion. This  work  presents  us  with  an  admirable  illustration 
of  the  whole  process  of  tinting,  and  it  serves  also  to  show 
how  well  this  method  of  working  was  adapted  to  the  purposes 
of  the  topographer,  who  looked  mainly  for  the  accurate  de- 
lineation of  nature. 

J ulius  Cesar  Ibbetson  obtained  his  name  in  consequence 
of  the  operation  by  which  he  first  saw  the  world,  his  mother 
having  died  in  premature  labour  \  he  was  born  at  Masham  in 
Yorkshire,  December  29th,  1759.  Ibbetson  was  educated  for  a 
time  by  the  Moravians.  From  early  youth  he  showed,  he  tells  us, 
a  violent  propensity  for  art,  and  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
painted  the  scenery  for  a  piece  acted  at  the  York  and  Hull 
Theatres.  In  1777  he  made  his  way  to  London  to  pursue  his 
studies,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  picture  dealer,  for  whom 
he  worked  several  years.  After  making  the  acquaintance  of 
Captain  Baillie  he  in  time  formed  a  connection  and  prospered 
as  an  artist.    In  1788  he  accompanied  Colonel  Cathcart's 

E 


50 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


embassy  to  China,  but  the  vessel  returned  owing  to  the 
colonel's  death  on  the  voyage.  Ibbetson  painted  both  in  oil 
and  water-colours,  and  though  his  works  possessed  considerable 
merit  he  appears  to  have  met  with  few  purchasers.  He  was 
fond  of  painting  in  a  subdued  key,  and  his  colouring  has  a 
tendency  to  a  clayey  hue.  He  published  in  1803  An  Accidence, 
or  Gamut  of  Painting  in  Oil  and  Water-Colours .  He  was  a 
boon  companion  of  Morland,  and  his  later  years  were  marred 
by  intemperance  and  extravagance.  To  this  he  appears  to 
some  extent  to  have  been  driven  by  domestic  affliction,  for 
after  the  loss  of  eight  children  in  succession  his  wife  also  died, 
and  he  himself  had  a  severe  attack  of  brain  fever.  On  re- 
covering from  this  illness  he  found  that  he  had  been  robbed 
of  nearly  all  he  possessed,  and  he  then  broke  up  his  household 
and  sought  distraction  in  doubtful  company.  Ibbetson  married 
again  in  1801,  and  to  escape  former  creditors  he  fled  to 
Masham,  in  Yorkshire,  where  he  died,  October  13th,  1817. 

Among  the  circumstances  which  contributed  to  the  success 
of  many  of  the  earlier  water-colour  painters  was  the  wide- 
spread demand  that  arose  at  the  close  of  the  last  century  for 
book  illustrations,  not  only  for  works  on  topography  and 
travel,  but  for  books  in  all  classes  of  literature.  This  phase 
of  art  work  had  undoubtedly  much  influence  upon  Turner's 
career,  and  in  the  case  of  some  of  his  contemporaries  it  turned 
them  aside  permanently  from  less  profitable  walks  of  art.  At 
the  time  of  the  foundation  of  the  Royal  Academy  some  of  its 
earlier  members  were  largely  employed  by  the  publishers,  and 
Cipriani  and  Angelica  Kauffman  are  widely  known  by  the 
elegance  and  taste  of  their  works  in  this  direction. 

Thomas  Stothard,  E.A.  [1755 — 1834],  who  began  life  as 
a  pattern-drawer  for  the  Spitalfields  silk- weavers,  early  turned 


WILLIAM  BLAKE. 


51 


his  attention  to  book  illustration,  and  produced  many  of  the 

designs  for  Bell's  Poets.    In  his  illustrations  for  the  Novelist's 

Magazine  he  showed  the  highest  excellence  in  this  branch  of 

art,  and  his  ability  was  speedily  recognized  by  the  Royal 

Academy,  as  he  became  an  associate  in  1791,  and  he  attained 

full  Academy  honours  three  years  later,  in  1794.    His  larger 

works  in  oil  are  disappointing,  and  fall  far  short  of  his  elegant 

and  refined  drawings  delicately  tinted  in  Indian  ink.    He  was 

much  employed  as  a  designer  for  plate,  and  his  "  Wellington 

Shield  "  is  a  famous  example  of  his  skill  in  this  branch  of  art. 

He  is  said  to  have  produced  upwards  of  5,000  designs. 

Perhaps  here,  too,  we  may  speak  of  William  Blake,  whose 

reputation  as  a  painter  and  poet  has  been  much  enhanced  by 

recent  writers.    He  was  born  in  London  in  1757,  and  was  the 

son  of  a  hosier.    Owing  to  his  love  of  art,  even  as  a  child,  he 

was  apprenticed  to  Basire,  the  engraver,  and  for  many  years 

he  worked  for  the  booksellers  chiefly  from  some  of  Stothard's 

earlier  designs.    He  married  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  and  for 

many  years  his  life  was  a  hard  struggle,  during  which  he 

produced  a  series  of  extraordinary  works  written,  designed, 

and  engraved  by  himself.    Taught  by  necessity  he  invented  a 

process  by  means  of  which  he  was  enabled  with  the  help  of 

his  wife  to  produce  his  own  books.    He  engraved  his  poetry 

and  illustrations  on  copper-plates   by  drawing  with  some 

medium  which  the  acid  would  not  attack,  and  then  biting  the 

ground  with  acid.    Thus  he  obtained  the  subject  in  relief, 

and  from  these  plates  he  drew  off  impressions  at  a  common 

printing   press.     The   sheets  were   roughly  coloured  with 

the  commonest  pigments,  which  most  probably  he  prepared 

himself — Dutch  pink,  ochre,  and  gamboge.    In  spite  of  the 

rudeness  of  the  workmanship  many  of  these  engravings  are 

E  2 


52 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


singularly  pictorial,  and  the  subjects  are  as  strange  as  the  mode 
in  which  they  are  produced.  Poor  Blake  had  visions,  and  saw 
in  spirit  the  secrets  of  Heaven  and  Hell.  Many  of  his  works 
are  absolutely  unintelligible,  but  his  Book  of  Job,  published  in 
1825,  which  consists  of  twenty-one  plates,  abounds  with  grand 
and  dignified  designs.  This  artist's  life  was  a  constant  conflict 
with  poverty,  and  he  died  in  his  seventieth  year,  August 
12th,  1827,  when  his  remains  were  laid  in  a  common  grave  in 
Bunhill  Fields  burial-ground. 

We  have  still  on  our  list  the  names  of  many  less  well  known 
artists  who  belong  to  the  older  school,  or  who  did  not  live 
long  enough  to  witness  the  establishment  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  but  we  must  press  onward  to  the  completion  of  this 
section  of  our  work,  and  devote  our  next  chapter  to  Turner, 
who,  during  his  early  days,  was  as  we  have  seen  the  contem- 
porary of  Girtin,  but  whose  career  brings  us  to  the  middle  of 
the  present  century.  Turner  belongs  to  no  school  of  water- 
colour  painting,  and  he  stood  aloof  from  the  societies.  In  his 
various  phases  he  represents  the  transition  from  the  old  style 
to  the  new,  as  well  as  the  art  in  the  fulness  of  its  mature  per- 
fection. Turner  will  ever  rank  as  one  of  the  most  glorious 
exponents  of  water-colour  painting  that  any  country  has  pro- 
duced, and  it  is  fitting  therefore  that  we  should  speak  of  him 
thus  early  in  the  history  of  the  art,  which  he,  more  than 
any  other  painter,  has  raised  to  the  highest  place  in  public 
estimation. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


Joseph  Mallord  William  Turner,  R.A. — His  Early  Drawings — 
His  Later  Drawings  — His  Influence  on  the  Art. 

Joseph  Mallord  William  Turner,  born  April  23,  1775, 
in  Maiden  Lane,  Covent  Garden,  was  the  son  of  a  hairdresser 
in  a  very  humble  way  of  business.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
he  entered  the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  in  addition 
to  this  he  studied  perspective  under  Malton.  He  worked,  as 
we  have  seen,  with  Girtin  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Monro,  and 
was  for  a  while  employed  by  Hard  wick,  the  architect.  He 
afterwards  maintained  himself  by  giving  lessons,  colouring 
prints,  and  putting  in  the  backgrounds  to  architects'  per- 
spectives, producing  all  the  time  very  numerous  sketches 
round  London.  As  he  became  better  known,  and  as  he 
improved  in  his  art,  he  extended  his  rambles  and  made 
excursions  into  Yorkshire,  Wales,  and  along  the  south  coast, 
and  worked  assiduously  for  the  topographers.  At  a  com- 
paratively early  age  Turner  found  himself  compelled  to  earn 
his  living  by  his  art ;  and  he  had,  moreover,  opportuni- 
ties for  improvement  of  a  peculiarly  varied  character.  A 
careful  examination  of  the  wrorks  of  Girtin  and  Cozens  leads 
us  to  believe  that  to  them  and  to  his  studies  at  Dr.  Monro's  he 


54 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


was,  in  the  first  instance,  much  indebted  for  his  methods  of 
treatment,  but  he  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  discard  the  rigid 
and  formal  mannerisms  of  the  topographers,  and  to  avail  him- 
self of  the  broader  and  bolder  colouring  of  the  new  school. 
Turner's  genius  was  incapable  of  being  fettered  or  tied  down 
to  any  traditional  method  of  working,  he  went  at  once  to 
nature,  and  endeavoured  to  transfer  to  paper  the  effects  of 
which  he  was  a  diligent  observer.  While  in  the  case  of  many 
other  artists  we  have  mentioned  we  have  rather  to  infer 
their  systems  of  working  from  their  finished  drawings,  or  to 
puzzle  out  for  ourselves  or  from  the  descriptions  of  contem- 
poraries their  mode  of  painting,  Turner  has  left  for  us  a  rich 
storehouse  of  his  sketches  which  presents  us  with  a  faithful 
record  of  the  manner  in  which  he  approached  nature  and  of 
the  processes  by  which  he  worked  out  his  effects. 

The  collection  of  his  sketches  in  the  National  Gallery  is, 
indeed,  a  mine  of  wealth  for  students  of  all  time,  and  shows 
how  the  genius  of  the  painter  was  thus  nourished  by  constant 
recourse  to  nature.  It  would  seem  that  he  went  about,  pencil 
in  hand,  and  was  ever  on  the  watch  for  beauty  in  form  and 
colour.  Many  of  his  slighter  sketches  consist  but  of  a  few 
hasty  lines  with  rapid  notes  of  local  tints.  A  passing  cloud 
or  a  sweeping  line  of  distant  mountains  attracted  his  attention 
and  was  jotted  clown  at  once,  with  here  and  there  a  wash  of 
colour  laid  on  with  a  full  brush,  but  with  astonishing  sharp- 
ness and  precision.  The  transition  from  these  sketches  to  his 
more  finished  works  can  also  here  be  studied,  and  the  secret 
of  his  brilliant  colouring  becomes  apparent.  Instead  of  sacri- 
ficing his  lights  in  the  attempt  to  render  his  shadows  more 
powerful,  Turner  seems  to  have  put  in  the  shadows  in  their 
true  key  and  colouring,  and  lie  sometimes  even,  in  order  to 


MAGDALEN  BRIDGE,  OXFORD.    By  J.  M.  W.  Turner,  R.A. 

Li  the  Print  Room,  British  Museum. 


J.   M.   W.  TURNER. 


57 


gain  breadth,  appears  to  have  gone  to  the  other  extreme  and 
to  have  sacrificed  his  lights  by  limiting  the  range  between 
light  and  dark.  This  latter  practice  was  the  outcome  of  his 
maturer  years,  and  the  pictures  of  that  date  are  sometimes 
almost  devoid  of  shadow  in  the  effort  after  intense  illumina- 
tion. He  was  fond  of  laying  in  his  warm  and  cool  colours  by 
means  of  transparent  washes,  paying  little  regard  to  detail, 
but  keeping  the  masses  opposed  to  each  other.  He  thus 
employed  many  successive  washes  varying  but  little  in  tint, 
to  indicate  the  local  colouring  of  objects  in  light  and  shade. 
His  wonderful  atmospheric  effects  are  mainly  clue  to  the 
delicacy  of  these  washes ;  he  also  abraded  or  rubbed  away  the 
surface  of  the  paper  and  then  wrought  out  the  details  of  form 
by  means  of  rich  luminous  shadows,  always  keeping  studiously 
before  him  the  gradations  due  to  distance.  In  this  way  he 
obtained  great  breadth  and  maintained  at  all  stages  of  his 
work  the  true  general  effect  he  had  in  view. 

Turner  seems  to  have  been  marvellously  fertile  in  expedients 
by  which  to  attain  quality  and  texture  in  his  sketches.  He 
was  clearly  aware  of  the  advantages  to  be  secured  by  damping 
his  paper  and  picking  out  portions  of  the  tint  by  blotting  with 
a  rag  or  porous  paper,  and  he  used  this  method  to  gain  bright 
little  spots  of  high  light  amidst  his  shadows.  Again,  he 
worked  up  to  the  edges  of  his  lights  with  a  full  brush  of 
colour  and  thus  obtained  sharpness  of  form  and  outline.  He 
even  cut  off  a  layer  of  paper  with  the  knife  to  take  out  a  high 
light ;  and  though  he  never  employed  white,  or  opaque  pig- 
ments, he  was  able  .to  produce  all  the  effects  due  to  their  use. 
He  was  very  expert  in  stippling  to  attain  evenness  of  tint, 
and  he  doubtless  employed  glazes  or  flat  washes  of  brighter 
or  cooler  colour.    Though  he  discarded  white  as  a  pigment  he 


58 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


was  well  aware  of  its  advantages  on  grey  or  toned  paper ; 
and  many  of  his  studies  for  skies  are  so  treated.  He  used 
white,  in  fact,  merely  for  the  sake  of  rapidity,  but  he  invari- 
ably avoided  it  in  his  finished  pictures.  While  speaking  thus 
of  the  plan  upon  which  Turner  worked,  we  may  glance  aside 
for  a  moment  to  direct  attention  to  the  interesting  series 
of  studies  by  Constable  recently  presented  to  the  South 
Kensington  Museum  by  his  daughter,  which  show  how  atten- 
tively another  master-mind  drew  his  inspirations  from  nature. 

Turner's  art  during  his  long  career  went  through  many 
changes,  and  his  work  has  been  grouped  under  three  periods — 
the  earlier,  the  middle,  and  the  later  style.  He  won  his  spurs 
and  gained  admission  to  the  Royal  Academy  as  a  water- 
colour  painter.  His  earlier  works  are,  we  must  confess,  dis- 
appointing, and  bear  little  evidence  of  his  future  powers. 
Many  of  them  are  copies  of  prints,  sketches  of  buildings  near 
London,  and  reproductions  of  works  by  Cozens,  Hearne,  and 
others.  Here  and  there  we  find  indications  of  original  obser- 
vation and  some  signs  of  an  attempt  to  represent  natural 
effects.  Much  of  his  time  at  the  outset  w^as  devoted  to  topo- 
graphical and  architectural  studies.  These  are  noteworthy  for 
the  grace  and  delicacy  of  their  outlines  and  for  their  careful 
drawing.  During  all  these  years  he  w^as  storing  his  mind 
with  the  facts  of  nature,  to  be  hereafter  re-coined  and  re- 
created by  his  marvellous  pencil.  His  Academy  associateship 
dates  from  1799,  and  in  1802  he  was  elected  a  member. 
Even  at  this  time  he  was  working  much  in  oil.  As  early 
as  1793  he  exhibited  The  Rising  Squall,  and  in  1796  a 
subject-picture  entitled  Fishermen  at  Sea.  Marine  subjects 
at  the  beginning  of  his  career  had  great  attractions  for 
him,  and  he  was  at  this  period  inspired  more  or  less  by  the 


J.   M.  W.  TURNER. 


59 


works  of  the  Dutch  School.  When  he  had  once  begun  to 
paint  in  oil,  Turner  used  this  medium  almost  entirely  for 
his  exhibited  works,  though  throughout  life  he  appears  to 
have  used  every  other  medium  but  this  for  his  sketches. 
There  is  a  strong  imitativeness  in  much  of  Turner's  art. 
Sometimes  he  sought  to  compete  with  Wilson,  then  Claude 
was  the  object  of  his  rivalry,  but  the  power  of  his  genius 
raised  him  above  and  beyond  these  tricky  performances ;  and 
in  his  best  pictures,  or  those  wherein  he  sought  to  give  us 
his  own  perceptions  of  natural  beauty,  his  art  is  unequalled. 
In  the  period  from  1800  to  1820,  during  which  his  finest  oil 
pictures  were  produced,  he  sent  but  few  water-colour  drawings 
to  the  Exhibitions,  but  he  employed  this  medium  freely  in  his 
studies  for  the  engravers. 

From  1808,  when  he  commenced  his  Liber  Studiorum,  he  was 
fully  occupied  by  the  publishers,  and  as  an  illustrator  of  books 
he  must  ever  take  a  very  high  rank.  We  may  mention, 
among  others,  The  Rivers  of  France,  England,  and  Wales, 
Southern  Coast  Scenery,  and  Rogers' s  Italy,  as  examples  of 
his  skill  in  this  direction ;  and  as  his  art  was  in  great  request, 
he  was  able  to  drive  close  bargains  with  the  publishers. 

Shortly  after  he  became  an  associate,  Turner  established 
himself  in  a  house  in  Harley  Street.  He  subsequently  resided 
at  Hammersmith,  and  then  spent  some  years  at  a  small  house 
at  Twickenham.  The  last  part  of  his  life  was  passed  at  Queen 
Anne  Street,  where  he  surrounded  himself  with  his  pictures 
and  lived  in  retirement.  Secretive  in  his  habits,  he  loved  to 
make  his  journeys  alone  and  to  withdraw  himself  for  uncertain 
periods  from  the  knowledge  of  his  friends  and  household. 
His  death  took  place,  while  his  whereabouts  were  thus  un 
known,  in  a  small  cottage  at  Battersea,  where  he  passed  under 
the  assumed  name  of  Brooks,  on  the  19th  December  1851. 


60 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


He  received  a  public  funeral,  and  was  buried  with  high 
honours  at  St.  Paul's  Cathedral. 

Turner  left  the  bulk  of  his  property  for  the  benefit  of  art 
and  artists,  but  owing  to  the  vagueness  of  his  will  drawn  up  by 
himself,  his  affairs  were  thrown  into  Chancery,  and  after  a  long 
and  tedious  litigation,  out  of  the  original  estate  valued  at 
£140,000,  the  Royal  Academy  received  £20,000,  his  pictures 
and  drawings  were  assigned  to  the  Nation al  Gallery,  his  real 
estate  passed  to  his  heir-at-law,  and  his  large,  collection  of 
prints  and  other  property  to  the  next  of  kin. 

Concerning  his  art,  we  quote  from  the  Century  of  Painters  : 
"  He  repudiated  the  mere  imitation  of  Nature,  and  never  cared 
to  represent  her  commonplace  aspects— those,  indeed,  which 
from  their  abiding  are  the  only  aspects  that  can  be  literally 
copied.  Although  he  made  hundreds  of  studies  from  Nature 
he  never  seems  to  have  painted  a  picture  out  of  doors.  He 
cared  only  to  reproduce  those  varied  effects  which  are  fleeting 
as  they  are  beautiful — like  the  passions  which  flit  across  the 
human  countenance  and  can  raise  the  most  commonplace  and 
stolid  face  into  the  region  of  poetry,  or  those  expressions  which, 
whether  on  the  face  of  man  or  the  wide-spread  champaign,  pass 
on  as  suddenly  as  they  arise  and  can  only  be  reproduced  by  the 
hand  of  genius,  working  with  the  stores  of  a  schooled  memory 
enriched  by  the  treasures  of  long  and  patient  study.  Moreover, 
Turner's  art  was  completely  an  art  of  selection — of  selection 
as  to  time  and  circumstance,  as  to  effect  of  light,  shade,  or 
colour  ;  of  selection  by  omission  or  addition  of  parts.  Of  what 
are  called  '  views  '  he  painted  few  or  none  in  oil ;  and  those  in 
water  colours  which  are  illustrations  of  scenes  and  places,  are 
so  idealized  by  the  poetry  of  effect — by  the  time  of  clay  chosen, 
by  the  adoption  of  a  treatment  forcing  into  prominence  the 
principal  object  (as  in  the  impressive  drawing  of  Norham  Castle 


J.  M.   W.  TURNER. 


63 


on  the  Tweed),  by  the  accessories  of  cattle  or  figures  of  incidents 
of  life  and  action — as  entirely  to  remove  them  from  imitative 
realization  of  scenes  or  places." 

It  is  quite  impossible  to  do  justice  to  the  art  of  Turner 
with  any  illustrations  within  the  scope  of  a  work  such  as  this. 
We  have  chosen  two  drawings,  the  one  to  bring  before  our 
readers  his  earlier  style,  and  the  other  an  example  of  the 
luminous  productions  of  the  latter  part  of  his  life.  In  the 
Magdalen  Bridge  and  Tower,  Oxford,  from  the  collection  at 
the  British  Museum,  we  see  this  artist's  skill  in  depicting 
architectural  subjects,  and  in  the  Old  London  Bridge,  from 
the  Jones  collection,  we  find  the  highly  idealized  treat- 
ment with  which  he  loved  to  handle  such  scenes  in  his 
maturer  years.  The  confused  lines  of  shipping  and  the  numer- 
ous figures  in  the  foreground  present  a  mass  of  rich  and 
brilliant  colouring  which  wo  aid  in  the  hands  of  almost  any 
other  artist  crowd  out  the  bridge,  the  principal  object  of  the 
picture.  But  how  truly  has  Turner  conveyed  to  us  the  lesson  he 
desired  to  bring  before  us,  and  how  ably  has  he,  without  any 
strong  contrasts  of  light  and  shade,  given  us  the  relative 
positions  of  foreground  and  distance,  of  sky  and  water  !  This 
little  picture  (the  original  is  only  12  inches  by  7  inches)  is  a 
marvellous  epitome  of  Turner's  art. 

Some  critics,  who  have  failed  to  appreciate  the  poetry  in 
which  Turner  revelled,  have  censured  the  carelessness  of  the 
drawing  in  many  of  these  later  pictures,  and  it  has  even  been 
asserted  that  he  was  unable  to  draw  the  figure.  It  seems 
scarcely  necessary  to  refute  such  statements  as  these,  for  a 
glance  at  the  rooms  full  of  studies  in  the  National  Gallery 
would  disprove  the  fact.  The  truth  is  that  in  his  attempts  to 
give  us  luminousness  and  brilliancy  he  sacrifices  form  and 
detail,  but  he  knows  well  enough  the  value  in  certain  cases  of 


64 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


careful  and  minute  drawing,  and  the  studies  for  many  of  his 
book  illustrations  are  almost  microscopic  in  the  delicacy  and 
refinement  of  their  execution. 

The  art  of  Turner  has  been  so  ably  dealt  with  by  some  of 
the  best  writers  of  modern  times,  and  his  influence  on  his 
brother  artists  has  been  so  fully  discussed,  that  in  a  brief 
account,  such  as  this  is,  of  water-colour  painting  it  scorns 
needless  to  dwell  on  these  matters.  His  eminence  as  an  oil 
painter  for  a  time  obscured  his  fame  in  the  medium  in  which 
he  first  wrought,  but  in  these  later  days  his  water-colour 
drawings  have  been  increasingly  sought  after,  and  those  of 
his  best  or  middle  period  have  been  contended  for  by  col- 
lectors wholly  regardless  of  cost.  It  has  been  pointed  out 
that  from  the  elate  of  his  election  as  an  Associate  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  Turner  eschewed  representative  landscape 
and  mere  topographical  art,  and  soon  after  he  began  to  work 
in  oil  a  great  change  came  over  the  manner  in  which  he 
approached  nature.  This  change  is  equally  apparent  in  his 
water-colour  drawings,  and  the  way  in  which  he  glorified  the 
commonplace  aspects  of  landscape  scenery  gives  a  charm  to 
his  sketches  which  we  seek  for  in  vain  in  the  earlier  efforts  of 
our  English  water-colour  painters.  When  Turner  began,  in  the 
old  laborious  way,  to  draw  from  the  buildings  round  London, 
water-colour  painting,  as  we  now  understand  it,  had  not  come 
into  existence.  During  the  course  of  his  career  the  art 
attained  its  zenith,  and  few  will  deny  to  Turner  a  mighty 
influence  in  shaping  its  development.  We  have  treated  of 
him  somewhat  out  of  his  natural  historical  place,  and  we  must 
now  revert  to  the  early  days  of  the  water-colour  societies  : 
these  societies,  to  which  as  we  have  already  stated,  Turner 
never  belonged,  enabled  the  exponents  of  the  art  for  the  first 
time  in  its  history  to  take  an  independent  standpoint. 


CHAPTER  V. 


The  Society  of  Painters  in  Water -Colours — Its  Formation — 
The  First  Members — The  First  Associates — The  Society 
of  Painters  in  Oil  and  Water -Col ours — The  Gallery  in 
Pall  Mall  East — The  Royal  Society  of  Painters  in  Water- 
Colours — Other  Water-Colour  Societies. 

As  the  new  art  gained  strength  and  vigour  and  grew  in 
public  estimation,  the  water-colour  painters  could  not  but  fail 
to  feel  dissatisfied  with  the  treatment  they  received  in  the 
Royal  Academy  exhibitions,  at  that  time  the  only  means  of 
making  their  work  known  to  their  admirers.  The  so-called 
"  Miniature  Room"  devoted  to  them  was  ill-adapted  for  its 
purpose,  and  the  space  available  was  too  limited;  they 
perceived,  moreover,  that  their  contributions  could  not  be 
seen  to  advantage  side  by  side  with  the  more  powerful 
works  painted  in  oil.  The  ranks  of  the  water-colour  painters 
were  not  without  fitting  representatives  among  the  Academi- 
cians, and  there  was  no  lack  of  good- will  towards  them ; 
the  difficulty  was  indeed  chiefly  want  of  space. 

The  feelings  above  alluded  to  in  course  of  time  resulted 
in  proposals  for  a  separate  exhibition,  and  it  appears 
that  it  was  mainly  owing  to  the  efforts  of  William  Wells 

F 


66 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


that  these  ideas  took  definite  shape.  About  the  year  1802 
Wells  printed,  and  caused  to  be  circulated  among  those 
who  practised  water-colour  painting,  a  letter  begging  them  to 
unite  and  form  a  society,  not  necessarily  in  hostility  to  the 
Royal  Academy,  but  for  the  promotion  of  their  own  art.  This 
letter  seems  to  have  met  with  but  little  enthusiasm  ;  the  water- 
colour  men  dreaded  to  put  themselves  in  open  rivalry  with  the 
Royal  Academy,  and  they  were  unwilling  to  bestir  themselves 
on  their  own  behalf.  Wells,  however,  persevered  in  his  scheme 
and  ultimately  found  several  kindred  spirits  to  join  him  in  the 
new  undertaking.  The  plans  for  the  Society  of  Painters  in 
Water-colours  were  the  subject  of  long  and  anxious  delibera- 
tion, the  meetings  connected  with  its  formation  were  held  at 
the  house  of  Shelley,  the  miniature  painter,  in  George  Street, 
Hanover  Square,  and  the  ten  original  members,  the  real 
founders  of  the  Society,  on  the  30th  November,  1804,  were 
Hills,  Pyne,  Shelley,  Wells,  Nattes,  Gilpin,  Nicholson,  Pocock, 
and  the  brothers  John  and  Cornelius  Varley.  At  their  first 
meeting,  which  was  held  at  the  Stratford  Coffee-house  in  Oxford 
Street,  Gilpin  took  the  chair,  and  in  addition  to  the  founders 
the  following  members  were  elected  by  ballot  :  Barret, 
Cristall,  Glover,  Havell,  Hoi  worthy,  and  Rigaud.  Shelley 
became  the  treasurer,  and  Hills  was  elected  the  secretary 
of  the  new  Society.  The  selection  of  names  was  no  doubt  a 
good  one,  as  it  included  many  of  the  most  distinguished  ex- 
ponents of  the  new  art.  In  our  arrangement  of  the  above 
groups  we  have  followed  the  sequence  as  given  by  Roget  in 
his  recent  History  of  the  '  Old  Water-Colour J  Society  ;  former 
writers,  no  doubt  on  insufficient  data,  have  placed  Barret  along 
with  the  foundation  members  and  included  Nattes  and  the 
two  Varley s  in  the  list  of  those  elected  subsequently. 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  PAINTERS  IN  WATER-COLOURS.  67 


The  rules  drawn  up  for  the  administration  of  the  Society 
and  for  the  management  of  its  exhibitions  were  prudent  and 
well  devised.    The  main  features  were  that  there  should  be  an 
annual  display  of  original  works  in  water-colours,  to  be  con- 
tributed exclusively  by  members  ;  the  number  of  members  was 
fixed  at  twenty-four  ;  the  officers  were  to  be  elected  annually, 
but  were  to  be  eligible  for  re-election.    Roget  tells  us  that 
"  Out  of  the  profits  of  the  exhibition,  should  there  be  any, 
after  payment  of  expenses,  a  sum  was  to  be  set  apart  for  the 
expenses  of  the  following  year,  and  the  residue  was  to  be 
divided  among  the  members  in  sums  proportioned  to  the  value 
of  the  drawings  sent  and  retained  for  exhibition."    The  rooms 
chosen,  for  the  first  exhibition  had  been  built  by  Vandergucht, 
the  engraver,  in  Lower  Brook  Street.  The  Gallery  was  opened  on 
April  22nd,  1805,  with  a  collection  of  275  drawings  ;  the  price 
of  admission,  including  the  catalogue,  was  fixed  at  one  shilling. 
A  novelty  in  connection  with  this  exhibition  was  the  provision 
of  an  attendant,  with  a  priced  list  of  the  pictures  on  sale,  who 
entered  the  names  of  the  buyers  in  a  book  and  took  a  deposit 
of  10  per  cent,  to  secure  the  purchase.     This  appears  to  have 
been  an  innovation,  and  the  practice  obtains  to  the  present  day. 
In  order  to  secure  the  requisite  funds  for  the  establishment  of 
the  gallery,  each  member  was  called  on  to  contribute  £2,  but 
after  the  first  exhibition,  which  appears  to  have  been  very 
successful,  and  which  was  visited  in  the  seven  weeks  that  it 
remained  open,  by  upwards  of  12,000  persons,  the  amount  of 
the  deposit  was  reduced  one-half.    The  sales  in  the  first  year 
amounted  to  £2,860,  the  profits  from  admission,  &c,  being  divided 
amongst  the  members  in  the  proportion  of  a  percentage  to  each 
exhibitor  on  the  value  of  the  works  he  contributed.  Roget 
gives  a  statement  of  the  valuation  of  their  works  by  the  artists 


68 


WATER  COLOUR   PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


and  deduces  from  this  the  average  price  per  exhibit  fixed  by 
each  contributor  and  the  consequent  order  of  self-estimation. 
The  list  is  as  follows  : — 


1. 

Shelley    .  . 

£26 

10 

6 

9.  Wells  .  . 

.  £7 

0 

0 

Glover 

22 

1 

0 

10.  Cristall  . 

6 

13 

0 

3. 

Pocock 

13 

0 

0 

11.  Havell  . 

5 

14 

0 

4. 

Nattes     .  . 

12 

2 

6 

12.  Nicholson 

12 

0 

5. 

Hills  .    .  . 

10 

18 

0 

13.  J.  Yarley 

4 

14 

0 

6. 

Rigaud 

10 

2 

6 

14.  Barret  . 

4 

9 

6 

7. 

Gilpin. 

9 

18 

0 

15.  Pyne  .  . 

.  4 

8 

0 

8. 

Hoi  worthy  . 

9 

0 

0 

16.  C.  Yarley 

3 

14 

0 

According  to 

Boget 

the 

average  price  of  a 

drawin 

Lg  was 

about  £10  lis.  The  admission  money,  which  amounted  to 
£577,  left  a  surplus  after  deduction  of  all  expenses  of  nearly 
£272,  and  this  was  duly  divided  among  the  members  in  shares 
ranging  from  £61  18s.  6d.,  to  Shelley  down  to  £5  7  s.  6d.,  to 
C.  Yarley  in  accordance  with  the  value  of  their  contributions. 

Before  the  second  exhibition  certain  "  Fellow  Exhibitors," 
subsequently  called  "  Associate  Exhibitors,"  were  elected,  the 
first  nine  of  them  being  Miss  A.  F.  Byrne,  J.  J.  Chalon, 
W.  Delamotte,  B.  Freebairn,  P.  S.  Munn,  B.  B.  Beinagle, 
John  (Warwick)  Smith,  F.  Stevens,  and  John  Thurston.  The 
number  of  these  privileged  exhibitors  wras  limited  to  sixteen, 
and  it  was  further  agreed  that  from  this  class  two  new  mem- 
bers should  be  elected  each  year  until  the  total  of  twenty-four 
members  was  reached,  after  which  no  fresh  addition  was  to  be 
made.  The  associates  were  it  appears  limited  to  five  works 
each.  In  the  second  exhibition,  which  also  took  place  at  Lower 
Brook  Street,  the  works  were  301  in  number,  and  the  sales 
reached  £2,595.  On  this  occasion  the  surplus  divided  was 
£440  and  it  rose  to  £471  in  1807.    In  this  year  Thos.  Heaphy 


THE  FIRST  MEMBERS  AND  ASSOCIATES. 


69 


and  A.  Pugin  were  elected  as  new  associates,  out  of  nineteen 
candidates  ;  Reinagle,  and  "Warwick"  Smith  were  advanced  to 
membership  and  J.  C.  Nattes  was  expelled  for  having  exhi- 
bited in  his  own  name  the  works  of  certain  outsiders,  osten- 
sibly for  the  purpose  of  increasing  his  share  in  the  percentage 
of  profits.  In  the  following  year  T.  Heaphy  and  J.  J.  Chalon 
were  added  to  the  list  of  members,  and  appear  as  such  in  the 
catalogue  for  1808. 

In  January,  1808,  William  Turner  and  J.  A.  Atkinson  were 
elected  associates.  The  exhibition  in  this  year  was  visited  by 
no  less  than  19,000  persons,  and  the  profits  divided  were  £445  ; 
Turner  and  Atkinson  in  the  same  year  became  full  members. 
The  receipts  in  1809  enabled  a  surplus  of  £626  to  be  divided 
among  the  members,  and  substantial  testimonials  were  voted  to 
the  officers.  The  associates  elected  in  this  and  the  succeeding 
years  were  according  to  Roget  as  follows  : — Thos.  Uwins,  Wm. 
Payne,  Edmund  Dorrell,  and  Chas.  Wild,  in  1809;  F.  Nash, 
P.  De  Wint,  A.  V.  Copley  Fielding,  Wm.  Westall,  and  W.  Scott, 
in  1810;  and  David  Cox,  L.  Clennell,  and  C.  Barber  in  1812. 
The  list  of  new  members  comprises  F.  Stevens  and  E.  Dorrell 
in  1809  ;  F.  Nash  and  Thos.  Uwins  in  1810 ;  P.  De  Wint  and 
Wm.  Westall  in  1811  ;  and  C.  Wild  and  A.  Pugin  in  1812. 
The  possible  number  of  members  was  raised  in  November 
1810,  to  thirty,  though  in  point  of  fact  the  number  never 
exceeded  twenty-five.  The  profits  in  1810  were  ten  per  cent, 
on  the  declared  value  of  the  works,  and  in  the  following 
year  each  member  received  Is.  7d.  in  the  pound.  From  this 
time  the  profits  sank  rapidly,  though  the  exhibitions  increased 
in  interest  and  in  the  variety  of  the  subjects.  The  third  exhibi- 
tion was  held  in  the  rooms  at  one  time  occupied  by  the  Poyal 
Academy,  near  Carlton  House,  in  Pall  Mall.     The  fourth  ex- 


70 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


hibition  was  opened  at  No.  16  Old  Bond  Street,  and  the  next 
year,  in  1809,  the  Society  migrated  to  the  great  rooms  in 
Spring  Gardens,  where  also  its  eleven  following  exhibitions 
took  place. 

Gilpin,  the  first  President,  resigned  in  1806,  and  his  place 
was  occupied,  pro  tern,  by  Wells.  Pocock,  who  had  been 
elected,  declined  to  serve,  and  in  1807,  Glover  became  the 
President,  for  a  year  and  was  followed  by  Peinagle  who  filled 
the  chair  until  1812. 

W.  Sawrey  Gilpin  was  the  son  of  the  Poyal  Academician  of 
that  name  mentioned  in  our  third  chapter.  It  has  been  thought 
by  some  that  his  reputation,  founded  chiefly  on  the  connection 
he  had  formed  as  a  fashionable  teacher,  was  injured  by  the 
public  exhibition  of  his  works  side  by  side  with  those  of  some 
of  the  best  masters  of  the  art,  and  he  withdrew  early  from  the 
unequal  contest.  According  to  others  his  retirement  was  owing 
to  his  appointment  as  teacher  of  landscape  drawing  at  the  Poyal 
Military  College  at  Great  Mario w ;  at  any  rate  he  was  one 
of  the  members  who  seceded  from  the  Society  on  its  disrup- 
tion in  1812,  though  we  find  his  name  as  an  exhibitor  with 
them  in  1814,  and  for  the  last  time  in  the  following  year. 

The  rule  that  each  member  could  by  affixing  the  price  of  his 
works  regulate  his  share  of  the  division  of  profits  was  not 
adhered  to  in  the  case  of  Shelley,  the  miniature  painter,  who 
as  we  have  seen  at  first  secured  the  lion's  share  of  the  admission 
money,  and,  perhaps  annoyed  by  this  decision,  he  resigned  the 
treasurership  in  1807,  though  he  continued  to  exhibit  until 
his  death,  two  years  later.  On  his  retirement,  the  post  of 
treasurer  was  accepted  by  Peinagle.  W.  H.  Pyne  relinquished 
his  membership  in  1809,  probably  because  his  literary  pursuits 
prevented  him  from  devoting  himself  to  his  art.    Miss  Byrne, 


DISRUPTION 


OF  THE  FIRST  SOCIETY. 


71 


the  first  lady  exhibitor  (who  was  gallantly  exempted  from  any 
risks  that  might  arise  from  losses  instead  of  profits  out  of 
the  annual  exhibitions),  was  in  addition  to  this  privilege 
granted  a  share  in  the  receipts,  but  it  was  at  the  same  time 
declared  that  ladies  were  not  eligible  as  members,  nor  had  they 
any  voice  in  the  management  of  the  Society's  affairs.  At  the 
close  of  the  eighth  exhibition,  the  class  of  associate  exhibitors 
comprised  Copley  Fielding,  P.  S.  Munn,  A.  Pugin,  W.  Payne, 
W.  Scott,  and  C.  Wild ;  the  number  of  members  now  standing 
at  twenty-five,  as  Heaphy  had  resigned  in  that  year. 

The  prestige  which  had  attached  to  the  new  venture  was 
unmistakably  on  the  decline,  the  exhibitions  no  longer  ob- 
tained their  former  success,  the  pictures  remained  unsold,  and 
the  public  did  not  throng  to  the  exhibitions.  The  surplus  in 
1812,  was  so  small  (XI 21)  as  to  excite  reasonable  apprehension 
of  a  future  loss.  What  was  to  be  done  %  Hitherto  the 
members  had  worked  together  harmoniously,  but  want  of 
success  led  to  disaffection.  It  was  at  first  suggested  that  all 
painters  in  water-colours  should  be  invited  to  co-operate. 
Glover,  who  had  turned  his  attention  to  oil-painting,  pro- 
posed that  works  in  oil  should  be  admitted  to  the  exhibition. 
This  suggestion,  nullifying  the  very  conditions  on  which  the 
Society  was  founded,  was  warmly  combated  by  certain  of  the 
members,  but  the  proposition,  was  ultimately  adopted,  and  it 
was  resolved  at  a  meeting,  held  at  Glover's  house  in  November, 
1812  to  accept  oil  pictures  at  the  next  exhibition.  On  learning 
this  decision  Chalon,  Dorrell,  and  Stevens  tendered  their  resig- 
nations, and  Reinagle,  the  president,  appears  to  have  agreed 
with  them,  as  he  took  no  further  share  in  the  Society's  affairs. 
This  persistence  of  Glover  was  the  main  cause  of  the  disruption 
of  the  Society,  and  led  to  the  dissolution  which  took  place  at  a 


72 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


meeting  held  at  the  house  of  Hills,  the  secretary,  on  the  eighth 
anniversary  of  its  foundation,  when  the  following  resolution 
was  passed  : — "  That  this  Society  having  found  it  impractic- 
able to  form  another  exhibition  of  water-colour  paintings  only, 
do  consider  itself  dissolved  this  night. " 

Another  cause  which  brought  about  this  result  was,  besides 
the  want  of  success  in  the  exhibitions,  the  difficulty  of  finding 
rooms  in  which  to  hold  them.  We  have  seen  the  numerous 
migrations  undergone  by  the  Society  during  the  first  few  years 
of  its  existence,  and  a  committee  appointed  to  consider  this 
subject  reported  that  the  interests  of  the  Society  had  been 
materially  affected  by  these  frequent  changes  of  locality. 
They  recommended  that  some  rooms  forming  part  of  the 
Lyceum  Theatre  in  the  Strand,  should  be  acquired  at  a  cost 
which  the  members  were  unwilling  to  face  \  and  at  length, 
yielding  to  these  combined  difficulties,  the  first  Society  came 
to  an  end. 

Twelve  of  the  members,  more  courageous  than  their 
brethren,  at  once  resolved  on  the  reconstruction  of  the  body 
under  the  title  of  the  "  Society  of  Painters  in  Oil  and  Water 
Colours."  These  were  Barret,  Cristall,  Copley  Fielding,  J. 
Holmes,  J.  Linnell,  Havell,  Holworthy,  Nicholson,  Smith, 
Uwins,  and  the  two  Yarleys.  To  these  must  be  added  David 
Cox,  Glover,  Miss  Gouldsmith,  F.  Mackenzie,  Turner,  and  H. 
Eichter,  who  were  elected  before  the  first  exhibition  which  was 
held  in  the  old  rooms  in  Spring  Gardens  in  1813.  A  notice  to 
the  following  effect  is  prefixed  to  the  catalogue.  "  The  Society  of 
Painters  in  Water-Colours,  stimulated  by  Public  Encourage- 
ment, and  gaining  Confidence  from  Success,  have  ventured  this 
year  on  a  considerable  extension  of  their  Plan.  Pictures  in  Oil 
and  in  Water  Colours,  Portraits,  Models,  and  Miniatures  are 


THE  RE-ORGANIZED  SOCIETY. 


73 


admitted  into  the  present  Exhibition  ;  and  should  these  in- 
creased efforts  receive  from  the  Public  that  liberal  support 
which  has  always  accompanied  the  former  exertions  of  this 
Society,  every  Year  may  produce  fresh  sources  of  Amusement, 
and  each  succeeding  Exhibition  become  more  worthy  of  Appro- 
bation and  Patronage."  To  this  exhibition,  which  was  styled 
the  "  ninth,"  taking  no  notice  of  the  dissolution  of  the  original 
body,  twenty-nine  outsiders  were  for  the  first  time  admitted, 
and  these  mixed  exhibitions  were  continued  with  moderate 
success  until  the  rooms  in  Spring  Gardens  were  demolished 
in  1821.  The  members  added  to  the  Society  during  this 
period  were  in  1814  G.  F.  Eobson,  and  W.  S.  Gilpin;  in  1818 
H.  C.  Allport;  in  1819  J.  Stephanoff ;  and  in  1820  S.  Prout. 
Each  year  contributions  were  received  from  outsiders  averag- 
ing about  fifty  in  number.  So  far  as  we  can  learn  these 
exhibitions  did  little  more  than  pay  their  way.  In  1817 
there  was  a  small  surplus  and  the  committee  advised  that  in 
lieu  of  dividing  the  profits  the  surplus  should  be  invested. 
This  proposal  was  adopted,  and  the  sum  of  £100  was  funded. 
Glover  disapproved  of  this  use  of  the  surplus  and  resigned 
on  December  23,  1817.  His  place  was  filled  by  the  election  of 
Allport.  In  1819  the  system  of  offering  premiums  for  the 
best  works  was  instituted  and  three  premiums  of  £30  each 
were  offered  to  the  members  as  an  inducement  to  produce 
works  of  greater  importance  both  in  oil  and  water-colours. 
The  works  had  to  be  of  a  large  size  ;  the  first  premiums  were 
awarded  to  Barret,  Cristall,  and  C.  Yarley. 

We  next  find  the  old  Society  at  the  Egyptian  Hall,  where 
they  remained  for  two  years,  and  in  1821  they  very  wisely 
reverted  to  their  original  scheme  of  confining  their  exhibition 
to  works  in  water  colours,  and  they  determined,  moreover,  for 


74 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


the  future  not  to  admit  the  drawings  of  outside  exhibitors. 
The  resolution  to  exclude  oil-paintings  was  taken  at  a  well 
attended  meeting  on  June  5, 1820.  This  change  is  announced 
in  a  preface  to  the  catalogue,  which  also  contains  an  ably 
written  review  of  the  then  position  of  the  art  and  a  disserta- 
tion combating  the  theory  of  the  want  of  permanence  of 
water-colour  paintings.  The  Society  at  this  time  was  com- 
posed of  seventeen  members  with  five  associate  exhibitors  ; 
the  new  members  being  0.  Wild  (re-elected),  and  Mrs.  T.  H. 
Field,  the  associates  were  W.  J.  Bennett,  H.  Gastineau,  J.  D. 
Harding,  W.  Scott,  and  Wm,  "Walker. 

Some  alterations  were  at  this  period  (1820)  made  in  the  con- 
stitution of  the  Society  ;  while  the  number  of  members  was 
restricted  to  twenty,  a  body  of  associate  exhibitors  was 
sanctioned,  limited  to  twelve,  from  whom  future  members 
were  to  be  elected  at  the  rate  of  at  least  one  every  year, 
should  there  be  a  vacancy.  The  system  of  premiums  was 
continued.  Cristall  was  elected  as  the  new  president,  and 
Fielding  remained  secretary.  In  the  following  year  Allport 
resigned  his  membership  to  devote  himself  to  oil-painting,  and 
J.  D.  Harding  was  elected  in  his  place.  Holmes  and  Eichter 
ceased  to  contribute,  and  in  accordance  with  the  rules  forfeited 
their  membership.  We  cannot  from  this  period  chronicle  the 
changes  in  the  Society,  they  are  set  forth  at  length  in  Roget's 
recent  History.  The  Society  was  now  firmly  established,  and 
shortly  afterwards  G.  F.  Robson,  one  of  the  most  energetic 
of  their  number,  in  conjunction  with  C.  Wild,  taking  advan- 
tage of  the  alterations  at  Charing  Cross,  obtained  possession 
of  the  convenient  and  well-situated  Gallery  in  Pall  Mall 
East,  which  they  still  occupy.  This  final  move  proved  the 
commencement  of  a  long  career  of  prosperity,  and  since  the 


THE  GALLERY  IN  PALL  MALL  EAST. 


75 


date  of  their  first  exhibition  in  this  new  Gallery,  in  1823,  the 
progress  of  the  Society  has  been  one  of  uninterrupted  success. 
In  1882  by  permission *of  Her  Majesty,  the  word  "  Royal  " 
was  prefixed  to  the  title  of  the  Society. 

While  treating  of  the  water-colour  societies,  we  must  not 
omit  all  mention  of  the  rivals  and  competitors  who  almost 
from  the  inception  of  the  movement  attempted  to  participate 
in  the  success  of  the  independent  exhibition.  As  early  as  the 
year  1808  an  exhibition  was  opened  in  Lower  Brook  Street,  in 
the  rooms  vacated  by  the  older  society,  by  the  "  Associated 
Artists  in  Water  Colours."  The  eleven  original  members 
of  this  body  were  W.  J.  Bennett,  H.  P.  Bone,  James  Green, 
J.  Laporte,  Andrew  Robertson,  W.  J.  Thompson,  F.  Huet- 
Yilliers,  W.  Walker,  jun.,  W.  H.  Watts,  H.  W.  Williams, 
and  A.  Wilson.  Their  numbers  were  subsequently  raised  to 
eighteen  by  the  election  of  A.  Chalon,  Mrs.  Green,  S.  Owen, 
J.  Papworth,  Miss  E.  Smith,  W.  Westall,  and  William  Wood, 
and  to  these  were  added  eighteen  "  fellow  exhibitors."  The 
President  of  the  Society  was  W.  Wood,  J.  Green  was  the 
treasurer,  and  A.  Robertson  was  the  secretary.  The  records 
of  this  Association  are  extremely  scanty  ;  they  had  no  desire  to 
oppose  the  older  body,  and  they  appear  to  have  welcomed  to 
their  exhibitions  the  works  of  other  artists  not  members.  Their 
scheme,  though  it  was  at  first  fairly  well  received,  seems  to  have 
met  with  but  little  permanent  public  support,  and  after  their 
fifth  exhibition  in  1812  we  can  trace  no  further  mention  of 
them.  Their  exhibitions  from  1810  to  1812  were  held  at  16, 
Old  Bond  Street,  and  in  the  former  year  the  name  of  the  Society 
was  changed  to  the  Associated  Painters  in  Water-Colours. 
David  Cox  succeeded  Wood  as  the  president;  the  number  of 
members  was  raised  from  eighteen  to  twenty,  and  oil  paintings 


76 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


were  admitted  as  well  as  water-colours.  Among  the  exhibitors 
at  the  last  of  tho  exhibitions  in  1812,  was  William  Blake.  In 
this  year  Bichter  was  the  president,  and  many  of  the  members 
appear  to  have  withdrawn,  nine  out  of  the  twenty  of  those  who 
contributed  to  the  exhibition  being  placed  in  a  distinct  class  in 
1811  under  the  title  of  "  Associated  Members."  It  was  at 
the  close  of  the  1812  exhibition  that  their  landlord  swooped 
down  upon  the  society  for  his  unpaid  rent,  and  seized  all  the 
contents  of  the  gallery.  Poor  David  Cox  whose  pictures  did 
not  at  that  time  realise  a  ready  sale,  lost  the  whole  of  his 
drawings,  which  were  sold  at  very  inadequate  prices. 

Yet  another  attempt  to  found  a  society  in  the  early  years 
of  this  century  deserves  passing  mention.  When,  as  we  have 
seen  in  consequence  of  the  action  of  Glover,  the  old  Society 
was  broken  up  in  1812,  a  small  section  of  the  members,  pro- 
minent amongst  whom  were  Nicholson,  Nash,  Kigaud,  and  J. 
Smith,  secured  a  Gallery  in  New  Bond  Street,  where  they 
opened,  in  1814,  "  An  Exhibition  of  Paintings  in  Water 
Colours,"  to  which  they  invited  the  contributions  of  artists 
who  did  not  belong  to  any  other  society.  This  venture  also, 
however,  appears  to  have  ended  in  failure,  and  though  a 
second  exhibition  was  opened  on  May  3rd,  1815,  with  205 
works,  eked  out  with  oil  paintings  and  a  few  "  old  masters," 
the  scheme  did  not  extend  to  a  third  year. 

In  the  general  classification  of  the  periods  of  water  colour  art 
in  our  introductory  chapter,  we  selected  for  the  closing  scene  of 
the  middle  period  the  date  of  the  establishment  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society  in  their  new  Gallery,  and  we  think  that  from  the 
brief  account  we  have  given  of  the  difficulties  experienced  by  this 
body  in  its  early  days,  and  the  many  vicissitudes  experienced 
in  the  permanent  establishment  of  its  exhibitions,  the  reasons 


ITS  SUCCESS  AFTER  TWENTY  YEARS  OF  TRTALS. 


77 


for  this  selection  will  be  evident.  During  the  first  twenty 
years  of  the  century,  water-colour  painting  had  gradually 
taken  up  its  rank  as  an  art  distinct  from  oil  painting,  and 
though  the  attempt  to  make  this  distinction  in  the  first  instance 
resulted  in  failure,  it  became  possible  after  1821  to  establish  a 
Gallery  upon  a  secure  basis  where  painters  in  water-colours 
could  hold  their  own.  The  Society  of  that  day  numbered  among 
its  ranks  some  of  the  ablest  and  most  eminent  of  the  artists  who 
had  raised  water-colour  painting  to  its  true  position  among  the 
fine  arts,  and  it  will  be  our  task  in  the  succeeding  chapters  to 
glance  briefly  at  the  lives  and  to  review  the  art  of  those  whose 
names  we  have  at  present  enumerated  merely  in  passing  as 
belonging  to  one  or  the  other  of  the  earlier  water-colour 
societies  founded  in  this  country. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


The  Founders  of  the  Water -Colour  Society — George  Barret 
— Robert  Hills — William  Henry  Pyne — Nicholas  Pocock 
— Samuel  Shelley — William  Frederick  Wells — William 
Sawrey  Giljrin — Francis  Nicholson — John  Varley — Cor- 
nelius Varley — John  Claude  Nattes. 

Among  the  original  founders  of  the  Water  Colour  Society 
who  met,  as  we  have  seen,  at  the  house  of  Shelley  to  plan 
the  constitution  and  rules  of  their  association,  were  several 
painters  who  are  entitled  to  take  a  high  rank  among  the 
masters  of  the  art.  To  none  of  them,  however,  in  our  estima- 
tion, must  the  place  of  honour  in  the  new  society  be  assigned 
but  rather  to  one  of  the  earliest  additions  to  their  number — 
George  Barret,  whose  work  was  not  without  its  influence 
on  his  brother-painters.  Somewhat  in  the  direction  of 
Turner,  but  devoid  of  his  true  poetical  feeling,  Barret  at- 
tempted to  transfer  to  paper  the  glories  of  sunrise  and  sunset, 
the  mystery  of  moonlit  landscape,  and  the  solemn  stillness  of 
twilight.  He  was  an  early  student  of  the  art  of  composition, 
and  in  his  classical  scenes  he  forsook  nature  and  endeavoured  to 
put  together  his  pictures  by  rule.  Barret  came  of  an  artistic 
^tock  ;  his  father,  George  Barret  the  Academician,  who  had  at 


GEORGE  BARRET. 


8  1 


first  prospered  in  bis  profession,  was  reduced  to  bankruptcy, 
and  at  his  death  left  bis  children  pensioners  on  the  Royal 
Academy.  Several  of  the  family  achieved  distinction  as 
artists,  and  George  Barret  the  younger,  who  was  born  about 
1767,  by  patient  exertion  made  himself  a  high  reputation. 
He  was  of  frugal  and  industrious  habits,  and  studied  rather 
to  attain  excellence  in  his  art  than  to  benefit  bis  purse.  His 
first  pictures,  exhibited  at  the  Academy  in  1795,  were  views  in 
Yorkshire  and  on  Loch  Lomond,  and  for  several  years  after- 
wards we  find  mention  in  the  catalogues  of  this  painter,  which 
cease  in  1803.  To  the  exhibitions  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  of  which  he  was  for  many  years  the  Secretary,  he  sent 
some  fifteen  pictures  annually,  mostly  painted  in  the  vicinity 
of  London,  where  he  lived.  A  few  of  his  drawings  were 
executed  in  conjunction  with  Cristall,  and  later  with  F.  Tayler. 
His  colouring  was  warm  and  rich,  but  in  his  efforts  to  depict 
the  glow  of  sunshine  he  often  rendered  parts  of  his  work 
gloomy  and  sombre.  He  loved  extended  landscapes  with  Claude- 
like temples  and  ruins  ;  some  clumsily-drawn  recumbent  cattle 
in  the  foreground,  and  dark  groves  of  trees  to  right  and  left } 
the  whole  bathed  in  sunlit  haze.  His  pictures  were  often  of 
large  size,  generally  somewhat  brown  in  tone,  and  many  of  them 
have  faded  sadly,  owing  to  the  use  of  unstable  pigments.  He  was 
an  adept  in  the  employment  of  washing  to  remove  surplus  colour, 
and  he  was  fond  of  the  use  of  bread  to  take  out  high  lights. 
He  drew  the  figure  in  a  rather  slovenly  manner,  and  he  often 
spoilt  the  texture  of  his  works  by  constant  abrasion.  In  spite 
of  these  defects  the  drawings  of  Barret  will  always  be 
esteemed,  as  his  art  was  truly  original,  and  he  occupies  a  field 
peculiarly  his  own.  During  his  later  years  he  experienced 
many  afflictions,  and  he  died  in  poor  circumstances  in  1842, 

G 


82 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


when  a  subscription  was  opened  for  his  family.  Barret 
was  an  author  as  well  as  a  painter,  and  he  published  in 
1840  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Water-Colour  Painting. 
We  have  selected  a  small  drawing  from  the  Historical  Col- 
lection at  South  Kensington,  which  will  serve  to  convey  an 
excellent  idea  of  his  style  as  it  embodies  many  of  his  marked 
peculiarities.  It  is  entitled  a  Classic  Composition.  On  the 
left  is  a  magnificent  range  of  buildings,  with  groups  of  charac- 
teristic trees  ;  on  the  right  a  barge  with  figures.  The  drawing- 
is  low  in  tone,  and  the  lights  have  been  taken  out  by  washing. 
This  little  picture  formed  part  of  the  Ellison  Gift. 

Amongst  the  actual  founders  of  the  "Water  Colour  Society, 
Robert  Hills  takes  high  rank.  He  was  born  in  Islington  in 
1769,  and  studied  art  under  Gresse.  His  first  appearance  as 
an  exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Academy  was  in  1791,  when  he 
contributed  "A  Wood  Scene  with  Gipsies."  We  know  little 
of  his  early  life,  or  by  what  means  he  was  induced  to  turn 
his  attention  to  animal-painting,  the  branch  of  art  in  which 
he  excelled.  Hills  was  a  most  industrious  draughtsman, 
and  he  was  indefatigable  in  collecting  materials  for  his  work. 
He  was  also  an  expert  etcher,  and  published  many  of  his 
delicate  outlines  of  deer  and  other  animals,  to  the  number 
of  upwards  of  800,  in  every  variety  of  action.  The  first 
part  of  this  admirable  series  of  etchings  was  issued  in  1798. 
The  print-room  of  the  British  Museum  contains  a  fine  collec- 
tion of  these  etchings,  many  of  them  touched  on  by  the  artist 
and  including  numerous  rare  states  of  the  plates.  Hills, 
moreover,  turned  his  knowledge  of  animal  form  to  account 
as  a  sculptor  and  modelled  a  red-deer  in  terra-cotta  clay.  His 
execution,  especially  in  his  later  works,  is  peculiarly  laboured  ; 
the  entire  surface  being  finished  by  stippling.    He  seems  to 


85 


have  even  gone  out  of  his  way  to  make  the  stippling  apparent, 
and  to  bring  every  part  of  the  picture  into  dots  or  minute 
points  of  colour.  The  extent  to  which  this  is  carried  gives  a 
mechanical  look  to  his  work  ;  and  he  appears  to  have  painted 
chiefly  from  drawings,  and  to  have  made  his  foliage  a  mere 
background  for  the  animals  into  which  they  have  the  look  of 
being  inlaid.  There  is  no  evidence  of  the  play  of  light  and 
shade  or  of  the  sparkle  to  be  found  in  nature.  It  has  been 
pointed  out  that  in  the  landscapes  of  Robson,  in  conjunction 
with  whom  many  of  his  works  were  executed,  this  same  woolli- 
ness  of  texture  is  apparent.  Hills  sometimes  inserted  the 
animals  in  landscapes  painted  by  Barret.  We  have  reproduced 
a  characteristic  example  of  their  joint  workmanship  from  the 
Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington — Beer  in  Knowle 
Park — a  group  of  deer  among  heath.  It  is  curious  to  notice 
how  much  these  artists  have  here  conformed  in  their  style  and 
touch.  Hills  continued  to  exhibit  with  the  Water-Colour 
Society  until  1818  when,  for  some  reason  which  has  not  been 
explained,  he  stood  aloof  from  them  for  five  years,  sending  his 
drawings  to  the  Royal  Academy.  In  1823  he  was  a  second 
time  elected  a  member,  he  again  contributed  to  the  Society's 
exhibition  in  their  new  Gallery  in  Pall  Mall,  and  remained 
an  exhibitor  until  his  death,  which  took  place  at  Golden 
Square  in  1 844,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year. 

William  Henry  Pyne,  the  son  of  a  leather-seller  in  Hol- 
born,  was  born  in  1769.  His  fame  rests  rather  upon  his 
numerous  art  publications  than  upon  his  water-colour  draw- 
ings. In  his  early  clays  he  studied  art  under  a  good  master, 
for  whom,  however,  he  conceived  an  aversion ;  but  he  managed 
to  become  a  skilful  draughtsman  and  in  turn  took  up  portrait, 
landscape,  and  figure-painting.  He  published  from  1803  to  1806 


86 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


his  well-known  Microcosm,  or  Picturesque  Delineation  of  the 
Arts,  Agriculture,  Manufactures ,  dx.,  of  Great  Britain.  This 
work  contains  many  hundreds  of  groups  of  rustic  figures,  imple- 
ments, &c,  drawn  and  etched  in  aquatint,  and  it  has  proved  a 
fertile  source  of  inspiration  to  numerous  would-he  artists  down 
to  the  present  time.  Mr.  Roget  states  that  "  a  few  groups 
like  those  of  the  Microcosm  are  at  the  British  Museum.  In 
them  the  pen  is  used  neatly  (without  the  freedom  and  dash  of 
a  dexterous  sketcher  such,  for  example,  as  Rowdandson),  and 
some  are  composed  with  much  taste/'  It  was  followed  in  1808 
by  The  Costumes  of  Great  Britain,  after  which  he  published  in 
conjunction  with  Mr.  Ackermann,  a  series  of  illustrations  of 
the  royal  palaces,  Windsor,  St.  James's,  &c.  For  this  latter 
work  he  undertook  the  letterpress  only,  the  illustrations  being 
supplied  by  Stephanoff,  Charles  Wild,  and  other  artists.  He 
was  the  author  of  one  of  the  most  chatty  and  agreeable  art 
publications  known  to  us,  entitled  Wine  and  Walnuts,  and 
he  furnished  much  amusing  gossip  on  art  matters  to  the 
Literary  Gazette.  He  likewise  edited,  and  probably  to  a  large 
extent  wrote,  the  Somerset  House  Gazette,  which  after  its  second 
year  of  publication  was  merged  into  the  Literary  Chronicle. 
This  represents  but  a  tithe  of  his  labours  as  an  author,  for 
he  seems  to  have  been  constantly  engaged  throughout  his  life 
in  literary  pursuits.  Much  of  our  knowledge  of  the  early 
practice  of  water-colour  painting  is  derived  from  his  writings, 
and  his  criticisms  are  always  judicious  and  carefully  thought 
out.  He  wTas  a  lively  and  entertaining  companion,  fond  of 
the  society  of  artists,  and  full  of  clever  schemes  which  he  had 
not  the  perseverance  to  realize.  In  the  drawings  of  his  early 
days  he  outlined  the  subject  with  the  reed-pen,  and  tinted  the 
foreground  w  ith  warm  tints,  reserving  his  greys  for  the  middle 


NICHOLAS  rococK — : 


SAMUEL  SHELLEY. 


89 


distance.  He  excelled  in  the  delineation  of  rustic  scenes,  and 
his  figures  and  animals  are  carefully  drawn  and  well-intro- 
duced. Pyne's  old  age  was  full  of  trouble  and  difficulties  :  he 
died  at  Paddington  after  a  long  and  trying  illness  on  May  29, 
1843.  We  have  been  permitted  to  select  an  example  of  his  art, 
entitled  A  Rustic  Landscape,  from  the  British  Museum  collection. 

Nicholas  Pocock,  another  foundation  member  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society  and  the  oldest  of  the  company,  came  of  a  good 
family  in  Bristol,  in  which  city  he  was  born  about  1741.  He 
was  entirely  self-taught  as  an  artist,  having  been  brought  up 
to  the  sea,  and  commanded  a  merchantman.  He  used  to 
illustrate  his  log  with  sketches,  and  after  a  while  he  adopted 
art  as  his  profession,  and  at  first  settled  in  Bristol,  but  came 
to  reside  in  London  in  1789.  There  he  married  and  reared  a 
family,  and  his  house  in  Great  George  Street,  Westminster, 
was  much  resorted  to  by  the  leading  men  of  the  Navy  at  that 
day.  He  painted  both  in  oils  and  water-colours,  chiefly  marine 
subjects,  and  delighted  in  representing  naval  actions.  His 
manner  was  founded  on  that  of  the  old  school,  though  in  his 
drawings  he  attempted  many  things  not  dreamed  of  by  the 
topographers,  and  he  is  credited  with  being  "  among  the  first 
to  rescue  his  art  from  the  dominion  of  outline,  by  blending 
softness  and  aerial  perspective  with  force  of  effect."  From 
1805  to  1813,  he  was  a  constant  contributor  to  the  exhibitions 
of  the  Water-Colour  Society.  He  died  at  Maidenhead  on 
March  19,  1821. 

Samuel  Shelley  who  was  born  in  Whitechapel  about  1750 
was  likewise  a  self-taught  artist.  We  first  hear  of  him  in 
1770,  when  he  gained  a  Society  of  Arts  premium.  He  became 
celebrated  as  a  miniature-painter,  and  was  extremely  success- 
ful in  his  female  portraits.    We  refer  to  him  here  chiefly  be- 


90 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


cause  the  Water-Colour  Society  was  planned  in  his  house.  He 
became  its  first  treasurer,  and  sent  allegorical  subjects,  such 
as,  Cupid  Turned  Watchman,  and  Loves  Complaint  to  Time, 
to  its  exhibitions.  Shelley  was  a  skilful  engraver,  and  pub- 
lished many  of  his  own  portraits ;  he  also  worked  as  a  book- 
illustrator.  He  is  stated  to  have  died  in  George  Street, 
Hanover  Square,  December  22,  1808,  though  the  accuracy  of 
this  date  is  questioned  by  Roget. 

William  Frederick  Wells,  to  whom  the  inception  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society  was,  as  already  stated,  mainly  due,  was  a 
fashionable  teacher,  and  was  drawing-master  for  nearly  thirty 
years  at  Addiscombe  College.  He  was  born  in  London  in 
1762,  and  studied  under  Barralet.  His  drawings  appear  to 
have  been  chiefly  views  in  various  parts  of  the  kingdom  and 
on  the  continent.  His  early  drawings  were  executed  in  the 
tinted  manner.  Wells  was  the  lifelong  friend  of  Turner  and 
it  was  at  his  suggestion  that  Turner  undertook  the  Liber 
Studiorum.  Wells  himself  successfully  engaged  in  the  publica- 
tion of  A  Collection  of  Prints  Illustrative  of  English  Scenery 
from  the  Drawings  and  Sketches  of  Thos.  Gainsborough,  R.A., 
in  conjunction  with  Laporte,  in  1819.  He  became  for  a  brief 
period  the  president  of  the  Water-Colour  Society  in  1806, 
and  he  died  in  1836. 

William  Sawrey  Gilpin,  the  son  of  Sawrey  Gilpin,  E.A., 
and  the  first  president  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  was 
chiefly  known  as  a  teacher.  We  have  already,  in  our  account 
of  the  Society,  given  an  outline  of  his  career,  and  we  may 
pass  to  Francis  Nicholson,  who  was  in  his  day  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  the  foundation  members.  He  was  born 
at  Pickering,  in  Yorkshire,  in  1753,  and  practised  for  a 
time,  chiefly  in  oil,  in  various  parts  of  his  native  county. 


WILLIAM  SAWREY  GILPIN. 


01 


Thence  he  came  to  London  and  devoted  himself  largely  to 
lithography,  and  greatly  contributed  to  the  advancement 
of  that  art.  He  is  said  to  have  produced  upwards  of  800 
drawings  upon  stone.  He  published  in  1822  a  work  entitled, 
The  Practice  of  Drawing  and  Painting  Landscape  from 
Nature,  and  Pyne  gives  an  account  in  the  Somerset  House 
Gazette,  of  a  process  he  discovered  of  treating  the  lights  in 
water-colour  painting.  His  system  was  based  on  the  use  of  a 
spirit  varnish  with  which  he  coated  any  surfaces  he  wished  to 
preserve,  he  then  painted  over  them  with  water-colours  in  the 
usual  way,  and  finally,  by  means  of  spirits  of  wine,  removed 
the  varnish,  leaving  the  lights  as  sharp  and  clear  as  if  laid  on 
in  opaque  colour,  and  Pyne  further  states  that  though  his 
process  did  not  find  favour  among  his  brother  artists,  his 
success  stimulated  them  to  strive  after  greater  richness  and 
force  which  they  subsequently  achieved.  He  adds,  "  Mr. 
Nicholson  having,  after  much  ingenious  experiment,  arrived 
at  this  desideratum,  with  a  liberality  that  cannot  be  too  highly 
esteemed,  gave  his  discovery  to  the  world."  The  reviews  of 
Nicholson's  book  extend  over  many  pages  in  the  Gazette,  and 
he  gives  very  minute  directions  to  guide  the  student  and  the 
beginner.  Even  at  that  time  doubts  had  arisen  with  respect  to 
the  stability  of  water-colour  drawings,  and  we  extract  the 
following  remarks  on  this  subject  from  Nicholson's  work  : — ■ 
"  The  objections  usually  urged  against  the  use  of  water-colours 
is  their  supposed  want  of  permanency.  If  this  be  advanced  at 
the  present  day,  it  must  be  by  those  who  take  their  opinion  on 
trust,  or  have  not  observed  anything  but  such  slight  perform- 
ances as  were  done  formerly,  and  called  washed  or  stained  draw- 
ings :  these  being  thinly  tinted  and  generally  with  vegetable 
colours,  could  not  be  expected  to  remain  ;  but  to  maintain  from 


02 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


thence  that  all  water-colours  must  be  very  fugitive  proves 
nothing  but  ignorance  of  the  present  practice  and  of  what  it  may 
be  extended  to.  Neither  does  the  change  that  may  be  observed  in 
some  modern  productions  prove  anything,  but  a  continuance  of 
the  use  of  perishable  materials  by  artists  who  prefer  their  present 
effect  to  one  that  is  not  quite  so  pleasing  at  first  but  will  be 
lasting."  After  explaining  such  causes  of  change  in  oil  paint- 
ings he  says  : — "  Water  being  used  as  the  vehicle  in  painting  is 
not  subject  to  change,  consequently  the  alterations  that  may 
take  place,  will  be  in  the  colours,  this  is  caused  principally  by 
the  action  of  light,  and  in  proportion  to  its  intensity  and  con- 
tinuance, they  will  become  lighter ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that 
in  a  good  body  of  such  substances  as  those  I  have  mentioned 
the  change  will  not  be  by  any  means  greater  than  that  of  the 
same  colours  in  oil."  This  was  written  in  1822  and  we  have 
not  got  much  further  than  this  at  the  present  day. 

There  is  reason  to  fear  that  in  his  later  years,  when  Nichol- 
son had  retired  upon  a  handsome  competency,  he  ruined  many 
of  his  best  pictures  by  the  experiments  he  was  fond  of  carrying 
on  with  various  varnishes  and  nostrums.  In  his  recent  His- 
tory of  the  6  Old  Water  Colour1  Society,  Mr.  Roget  devotes  an 
entire  chapter  to  this  artist,  and  gives  an  amusing  account  of 
the  circumstances  of  the  communication  by  Nicholson  of  his 
discovery  to  the  Society  of  Arts,  for  which  he  was  awarded  a 
premium,  and  likewise  of  his  exposure  of  the  tricks  by  which 
certain  drawing  masters,  who  had  become  members  of  the 
Committee  of  the  Polite  Arts,  obtained  rewards  for  their  own 
pupils.  In  this  exposure  he  was  aided  by  John  Yarley  and, 
after  they  had  pointed  out  that  the  premiated  drawings  of  the 
pupils  were  in  many  cases  not  the  real  work  of  the  candidates, 
"a  resolution  was  entered  in  the  Society's  books  requiring 


JOHN  VARLEY. 


93 


every  candidate  to  give  proof  that  the  drawing  sent  in  was 
entirely  the  production  of  the  claimant,  by  his  being  placed 
alone  in  a  room  and  there  making  a  drawing,  or  such  parts  of 
one  as  would  satisfy  the  Society  that  the  claim  was  fair." 
Nicholson  died  in  London  on  the  6th  March,  1844,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  ninety-one  years.  He  was  fond  of  painting 
water-falls  and  streams  of  running  water,  but  though  he  be- 
came distinguished  in  his  own  day,  his  reputation  has  not  been 
maintained. 

Among  the  illustrious  band  of  students  meeting  under  Dr. 
Monro's  hospitable  roof  no  one  made  better  use  of  his  opportuni- 
ties or  gathered  more  instruction  from  his  companions  than  did 
John  Yarley,  who  was  born  at  Hackney,  August  17,  1778. 
His  father  was  private  tutor  to  Lord  Stanhope,  and  objecting 
to  foster  his  son's  liking  for  art,  apprenticed  him  to  a  silver- 
smith, from  which  employment  he  shortly  afterwards,  on  the 
death  of  his  father,  found  means  to  free  himself.  Yarley 
worked  for  a  while  under  a  portrait-painter,  and  subsequently 
as  an  architectural  draughtsman,  sketching  in  his  spare  time 
everything  that  came  under  his  notice ;  rising  even,  we  are 
told,  at  daybreak,  in  order  to  get  two  hours  with  his  notebook 
before  beginning  office  work  at  eight.  He  was  enabled,  when 
absent  on  some  tour  with  his  master,  to  make  a  vigorous 
drawing  of  Peterborough  Cathedral,  which  was  exhibited  at 
the  Royal  Academy  in  1798,  and  gained  him  much  credit. 
During  the  next  year  or  two  he  visited  Wales  and  the 
northern  counties  of  England  and  found  numerous  subjects 
for  his  facile  pencil.  Even  thus  early  his  drawings  found 
purchasers,  and  he  became  from  this  time  a  frequent  exhibitor 
at  the  Royal  Academy.  It  was  about  this  time  that  his  work 
attracted  the  attention  of  Dr.  Monro,  and  that  he  began  to 


94 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


frequent  his  gatherings  in  the  Aclelphi.  In  order  to  take  full 
advantage  of  these  opportunites  he  moved  to  rooms  in  Charles 
Street,  Covent  Garden,  which  he  shared  with  his  brother 
Cornelius,  and  here  they  had  a  studio  and  gave  lessons.  In 
1803  he  married  his  first  wife,  one  of  three  sisters,  named 
Gisborne  who  each  became  united  to  well  known  men,  the  one 
to  Copley  Fielding,  the  other  to  Muzio  Clementi,  the  musician. 
As  a  proof  of  Yar ley's  industry  we  may  mention  that  in 
1804,  the  year  of  his  election  to  the  Water-Colour  Society,  he 
contributed  no  less  than  forty-two  works  to  their  exhibition, 
even  increasing  his  drawings  up  to  the  surprising  number 
of  sixty  in  1809.  The  total  of  his  exhibited  works  in  the 
eight  years  ending  1812  was  344.  No  wonder  that  his 
manner  became  insipid  and  commonplace,  and  that  he  ex- 
hausted his  resources  in  finding  subjects.  He  even  drew  his 
inspiration  from  prints  and  etchings,  and  reproduced  his 
sketches  with  stock  foregrounds  varied  in  every  imaginable 
way.  All  this  time  he  was  increasing  his  reputation  as  a 
teacher,  and  several  of  his  pupils  became  eminent  in  art.  He 
was  moreover  an  enthusiastic  believer  in  astrology,  on  which 
subject  he  wrote  a  treatise,  and  he  cast  the  nativities  of  his 
friends  and  pupils.  Some  whimsical  stories  are  told  concerning 
the  successful  character  of  certain  of  his  predictions.  He 
published  in  1830  Observations  on  Colouring  and  Sketching  from 
Nature,  and  he  was  also  the  author  of  A  Practical  Treatise  on 
Perspective.  Throughout  his  long  career  he  continued  firm  in 
his  allegiance  to  the  Water-Colour  Society.  The  landscapes 
of  Yarley  have  great  breadth  and  simplicity  of  treatment. 
He  worked  with  a  full  pencil,  and  his  tints  are  fresh  and 
pure.  He  was  somewhat  mannered  in  his  treatment,  but  he 
thoroughly  understood  the  rules  of  composition,  and  introduced 


CORNELIUS  VARLEY. 


07 


his  figures  with  good  effect.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life  he 
practised  a  mode  of  execution  which  we  are  bound  to  consider 
somewhat  tricky.  His  plan  consisted  in  straining  a  sheet  of 
common  whitey-brown  paper  over  ordinary  drawing  paper.  On 
the  former  he  painted  the  subject  in  rich  tints  and  for  the  high 
lights  he  rubbed  away  the  coarse  paper  down  to  the  pure 
white  surface  beneath.  We  are  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the 
small  landscape  from  the  Print  Room  of  the  British  Museum 
which  we  have  selected  to  represent  this  artist  scarcely  does 
him  justice,  still  it  serves  to  show  the  grace  of  his  composi- 
tions and  the  simple  features  he  needed  for  a  pleasing  and 
effective  little  picture.    His  death  occurred  in  1842. 

Cornelius  Yarley,  a  younger  brother  of  the  foregoing,  was 
likewise  a  foundation  member  of  the  Water-Colour  Society, 
and  two  other  brothers  were  from  time  to  time  exhibitors 
at  the  Academy — a  remarkable  instance  of  the  development 
of  a  taste  for  art  in  many  members  of  the  same  family.  Young 
Yarley  was  upon  the  death  of  his  father  entrusted  to  the  care 
of  an  uncle,  a  manufacturer  of  philosophical  instruments,  with 
whom  he  remained  until  he  was  twenty,  when,  in  consequence 
of  some  misunderstanding  with  his  relation,  he  joined  his  elder 
brother  John  and  devoted  himself  to  an  art  career.  Like  his 
brother,  he  was  much  engaged  in  teaching,  and  in  his  holidays 
and  spare  time  he  visited  Wales  and  made  many  sketches. 
He  left  the  old  Water-Col  our  Society  in  1820  when  oil 
painters  were  excluded  from  the  gallery.  His  exhibited  pictures 
were  relatively  few  in  number  and  were  chiefly  in  illustration 
of  classical  themes.  He  carried  his  work  further  than  did  his 
brother,  and  attempted  more  thoroughness  and  completion, 
thus  missing  the  breadth  and  grandeur  present  in  the  best 
drawings  from  the  hand  of  John  Yarley.    He  lived  to  a  great 

H 


98 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


age  taking  throughout  his  career  much  interest  in  scientific 
pursuits  and  being  to  the  last  a  constant  attendant  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Royal  Institution  and  of  the  Society  of  Arts.  He 
made  several  improvements  in  the  construction  of  philosophical 
instruments,  and  he  was  the  inventor  of  the  graphic  telescope. 
Cornelius  Yarley  outlived  all  the  other  founders  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society,  and  died  at  Highbury,  October  2,  1873,  in  his 
ninety-second  year. 

John  Claude  Nattes  was  born  about  1765,  and  studied 
art  under  Hugh  Dean.  Roget  calls  his  teacher  "Hugh  Neale," 
and  says  the  latter  enjoyed  the  sobriquet  of  the  "  Irish  Claude/ ' 
Nattes  worked  mainly  among  the  topographers,  and  did 
not  get  beyond  their  methods.  Between  1797  and  1800 
he  travelled  through  Scotland  to  prepare  the  drawings  for 
his  Scotia  Dejricta,  published  in  1804.  He  must  also  have 
visited  Ireland  to  obtain  the  materials  for  Hibernia  Depicta, 
which  appeared  in  1802.  He  subsequently  issued  a  series  of 
views  of  English  watering  places,  and  in  1806  published 
Bath  Illustrated.  He  was  expelled  from  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  as  we  have  seen,  in  1807,  and  afterwards  exhibited  at 
the  Academy  until  1814. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


Original  Members  of  the  Water-Colour  /Society — Joshua  Cristall 
— William  Havell — James  Holworthy — Stephen  Francis 
Rigaud — John  Glover — Anne  Francis  Byrne — John  Byrne 
— William  Payne — Paid  Sandby  Munn — Thomas  Heaphy 
— John  Smith — Augustus  Pugin — John  James  Chalon) 
R.A. — Alfred  Edward  Chalon,  R. A.— William  Delamotte 
— Robert  Freebairn. 

In  this  chapter  we  have  collected  the  artists  who  joined  the 
first  founders  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  and  who  with  them 
constitute  the  sixteen  original  members  who  contributed  to 
its  earliest  exhibitions.  With  them  we  have  placed  a  few  of 
the  masters  who  belong  essentially  to  this  period  of  the 
Society. 

Few  among  the  figure-painters  of  that  day  were  more  distin- 
guished than  Joshua  Cristall,  the  son  of  a  Dundee  skipper, 
who  was  born  at  Camborne  in  Cornwall,  in  1767.  While  he 
was  still  a  boy  CristalFs  parents  removed  to  Blackheath,  near 
London,  and  he  was  sent  to  school  at  Greenwich.  His  early 
inclinations,  for  art  were  opposed  by  his  father  who  appren- 
ticed him  to  a  china-dealer,  but  this  occupation  was  most 
unbearable  to  him  and  he  ran  away  from  home  and  entered  on 

h  2 


100 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


a  life  of  great  hardship.  For  a  while  he  obtained  employment 
in  the  Potteries  and  worked  as  a  china-painter  at  Turner's 
factory  near  Brosely  in  Shropshire.  Then  he  came  to  London 
and  studied  art,  being  secretly  assisted  by  his  mother,  though 
he  injured  his  health  by  a  foolish  attempt  to  subsist  wholly 
on  potatoes.  He  had  previously  it  seems  lived  for  a  twelve- 
month on  salt  pork  and  rice,  to  carry  out  an  agreement  into 
which  he  had  entered  with  a  Scotch  comrade.  In  the  schools 
of  the  Academy  and  aided  by  Dr  Monro  he  made  rapid 
progress  and  painted  classic  subjects  with  taste  and  refinement. 
On  his  election  as  a  foundation  member  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  Cristall  speedily  gained  a  good  position  and  became 
one  of  its  most  ardent  supporters.  He  was  on  several  occa- 
sions chosen  as  the  President,  and  during  his  long  life  was  a 
constant  contributor  to  the  exhibitions.  Pyne,  in  his  account 
of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Water-Colour  Painting,  says 
concerning  this  artist  : — "  We  never  recur  to  the  works  of 
this  classic  genius,  but  we  regret  that  he  did  not  originally 
direct  his  fine  talent  for  composition  to  the  profession  of 
sculpture,  or  to  painting  in  oil.  There  was  perceptible  in  his 
early  designs  a  largeness  of  parts  and  a  greatness  of  execution 
that  called  for  more  powerful  space  for  the  display  of  such 
rare  excellences  than  the  limited  scope  of  water-colours  could 
afford ;  unless,  indeed,  he  had  been  sufficiently  adventurous  to 
have  revived  the  art  of  body  colours  and  attempted  designs  on 
the  magnificent  scale  of  the  celebrated  cartoons  "  ;  and  later 
he  remarks — "  Every  amateur  of  judgment  must  recollect  the 
original  and  sterling  taste  which  he  has  continued  to  display, 
from  year  to  year,  in  his  single  figures  and  compositions  of 
English  rustics,  which  have  contributed  so  largely  to  the 
interest  of  the  Exhibitions  of  the  Painters  in  Water-Colours. 


WILLIAM  HAVELL. 


101 


His  fishermen,  cottage  groups,  gleaners,  and  other  pictures  of 
humble  life,  may  be  pronounced,  allowing  for  their  bold, 
broad,  and  comparatively  slight  manner  of  execution,  to  rank 
with  the  most  original  and  masterly  productions  of  the  modern 
school."  His  skill  as  a  figure  draughtsman  was  recognized 
by  Barret  and  Robson,  to  whose  landscapes  he  frequently 
added  appropriate  groups.  Cristall  was  most  fortunate 
in  his  marriage,  and  his  house  became  the  resort  of  many 
artist  friends.  He  also  belonged  to  the  Sketching  Society, 
which  brought  him  into  intimate  relations  with  the  foremost 
painters  of  the  day.  About  1823  he  retired,  owing  to  failing 
health,  to  a  small  cottage  on  the  Wye,  but  on  the  loss  of  his 
wife  the  place  became  distasteful  to  him  and  he  returned 
to  London,  where  he  spent  the  last  few  years  of  his  life,  dying 
in  October,  1847,  in  St.  John's  Wood  ;  he  was  buried  by  the 
side  of  his  wife  at  Goodrich.  The  figure  subjects  of  Cristall 
have  a  simple  grace  and  elegance,  and  even  his  rustics  and 
fisher-folk  have  a  certain  polish  and  charm  which  refines 
them  without  losing  their  character  and  individuality.  He 
was  fond  of  adding  height  to  his  figures,  which  practice  he 
may  perhaps  have  borrowed  from  classic  artists  whose  best 
models  he  diligently  studied.  He  used  pure  and  transparent 
colours  and  cared  but  little  for  the  new  methods  of  treatment. 
He  was  undoubtedly  a  great  acquisition  to  the  early  Water- 
Colour  School,  and  his  wTorks  even  to  the  present  time  main- 
tain their  reputation. 

William  Havell,  the  third  son  of  a  drawing-master  at 
Reading,  blessed  with  fourteen  children,  was  born  in  1782. 
His  father  wished  him  to  follow  commercial  pursuits,  but 
the  boy  took  every  opportunity  in  secret  to  study  art  and 
made  his  way  to  Wales,  wThence  he  returned  with  some  ex- 


102 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


cellent  sketches.  He  loved  mountain  scenery,  and  spent  two 
years  in  Westmoreland,  where  he  produced  many  fine  works. 
He  must  have  made  rapid  progress,  for  he  first  exhibited  at 
the  Academy  in  1804,  and  the  same  year  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Water-Colour  Society.  He  was  a  successful  painter, 
and  sent  from  ten  to  a  dozen  works  annually  to  their  gallery. 
Havell  worked  at  this  period  both  in  oil  and  water-colours. 
In  1816  he  w7as  appointed  draughtsman  to  Lord  Amherst's 
Mission  to  China,  but  owing  to  a  quarrel  with  one  of  the 
officers  he  threw  up  his  post  and  went  to  India  instead,  where 
he  passed  several  years  in  fairly  lucrative  employment  as  a 
portrait-painter,  though  he  failed  to  realise,  as  he  had  hoped, 
a  fortune.  He  returned  home  in  1825,  and  again  joined  the 
Water-Colour  Society,  but  found  that  during  his  absence  his 
reputation  had  declined,  and  that  his  art  was  no  longer  appre- 
ciated. Roget  notes  from  the  correspondence  of  one  of  his 
friends  that  this  was  "  owing  to  the  free  use  of  body-colour  !  " 

Havell  then  spent  some  time  in  Italy  where  he  was  the  com- 
panion of  Uwins.  He  again  lost  his  membership  in  the 
Water-Colour  Society,  betook  himself  to  oil-painting,  and  ex- 
hibited for  many  years  at  the  Royal  Academy.  His  death 
took  place  at  Kensington  in  1857.  We  have  illustrated  his 
fine  drawing  of  Windsor  on  the  Thames,  from  the  Historical 
Collection  at  South  Kensington,  which  is  richly  painted  in 
transparent  colour.  It  is  broadly  and  largely  treated,  as  were 
many  of  his  early  pictures,  and  he  certainly  deserves  prominent 
recognition  among  those  who  succeeded  in  lifting  water-colour 
painting  out  of  the  littleness  of  the  topographic  school. 

James  Holworthy,  of  whose  early  years  we  can  trace  but 
little,  was  an  occasional  exhibitor  at  the  Academy  down  to  the 
date  of  his  election,  after  which  he  was  a  constant  contributor 


w 

H 

w 


O 


o  d 


O 

W 
P 
o 

W 


STEPHEN  FRANCIS   RIGAUD — JOHN  GLOVER. 


105 


to  the  exhibitions  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  sending  views 
in  Wales  and  in  the  Lake  districts.  He  married  the  niece  of 
Wright  of  Derby,  in  1824,  and  shortly  afterwards  retired  to 
a  country  estate  near  Hathersedge.  He  died,  however,  in 
London,  in  June,  1841. 

Stephen  Francis  Rigaud  was  probably  a  son  of  Rigaud 
the  Royal  Academician,  as  we  find  him  to  have  been  a  student 
of  the  Academy,  and  an  exhibitor  in  1797.  In  1801  he  ob- 
tained the  gold  medal  of  the  Royal  Academy  for  his  historical 
painting  Clytemnestra  Exulting  over  Agamemnon.  He 
painted  chiefly  religious  and  classical  subjects,  and  after  his 
election  to  the  Water-Colour  Society,  was  a  regular  contri- 
butor to  their  exhibitions,  but  seceded  on  the  disruption  of  the 
Society  in  1812.  We  have  been  unable  to  ascertain  the  date 
of  his  death,  but  from  1849-51,  he  was  sending  classic  sub- 
jects to  the  gallery  of  the  Society  of  British  Artists,  and  Mr. 
Roget  states  that  a  letter  from  him  desiring  as  "  one  of  the 
original  founders  of  the  society,"  to  be  again  recognised  as  a 
member  was  read  before  the  Water-Colour  Society  on  August 
3rd,  1849. 

We  have  still  to  mention  John  Glover,  who  never  wholly 
freed  himself  from  the  methods  of  the  earlier  school.  He 
worked  both  in  oil  and  water-colours,  and  though  his  style 
was  mechanical  it  seems  to  have  gained  him  many  admirers. 
He  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  February  18th,  1767,  where  his 
parents  were  simple  village  folk.  He  must  have  made  good 
use  of  his  schooling,  for  we  find  him  in  1786  the  master  of 
the  Appleby  Free  School,  and  about  1794  he  gave  up  teaching 
and  resolved  to  devote  himself  to  art,  which  he  had  long 
practised  with  fair  success.  He  was  a  great  lover  of  rural 
scenery  and  he  was  a  skilful  painter  of  animals,  Roget  tells  us 
that  he  had  a  most  extraordinary  power  of  taming  birds 


106  WATER- COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


which  became  so  much  attached  to  him  that  even  when  they 
were  given  their  liberty,  and  had  flown  away  to  their  native 
woods  they  would  come  back  at  his  call,  whenever  he  pleased. 
It  is  pointed  out  in  the  Century  of  Painters  that  Glover's 
methods  in  water-colour  painting  were  founded  on  those  of 
Payne.  He  made  extensive  use  of  Payne's  grey  ;  like  him 
he  had  a  tricky  style  of  execution,  and  he  affected  a  mechani- 
cal rendering  of  foliage  by  the  employment  of  a  split  brush. 
He  resorted  moreover  to  accidents  of  lighting  caused  by  the 
sun's  rays  in  piercing  through  clouds  or  penetrating  dense 
foliage.  We  have  already  shown  that  Glover's  counsel  led  in 
some  measure  to  the  breaking  up  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1812.  Shortly  afterwards  he  almost  abandoned 
water-colours,  betook  himself  to  oil-painting,  and  acquired  a 
large  practice  as  a  teacher.  He  married  early  in  life  and 
became  the  father  of  four  boys  and  two  girls.  In  person  he 
was  stout  and  tall,  but  he  was  club  footed.  Notwithstanding 
his  lameness  he  was  a  good  walker,  capable  of  covering  many 
miles  with  ease,  and  a  wonderful  climber.  Glover  in  1823 
took  a  prominent  part  in  the  foundation  of  the  Society  of 
British  Artists.  He  ultimately  resolved  to  emigrate  to 
Western  Australia,  the  new  Swan  River  Colony,  and  he 
arrived  there  in  1831.  From  thence  he  sent  his  sketches  of 
native  scenery  to  the  mother  country,  but  they  met  with  little 
success  and  found  no  purchasers.  He  seems  during  the  last 
few  years  of  his  life  as  a  colonist  to  have  given  up  painting. 
He  died  December  9,  1849. 

Anne  Frances  Byrne,  the  first  lady  who  joined  the  Water- 
Colour  Society,  the  ranks  of  which  she  entered  as  an  "  associate 
exhibitor,"  was  a  daughter  of  William  Byrne,  the  engraver. 
She  began  life  as  a  teacher,  but  after  her  election  to  full 
membership,  in  1809,  she  devoted  herself  entirely  to  flower 


WJLLIAM  PAYNE  PAUL  SANDBY  MUNN. 


107 


painting,  in  which  branch  of  art  she  was  most  successful.  In 
order  to  permit  of  her  membership  it  became  necessary 
to  alter  the  rules  of  the  Society,  for  flower  paintings  seem 
to  have  originally  been  excluded  from  the  exhibitions. 
She  was  born  in  1775,  and  died,  January  2nd,  1837.  Her 
brother,  John  Byrne,  in  later  life  became  an  associate 
exhibitor  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  and  painted  natural 
scenery  with  truth  and  beauty.    He  died  in  1847. 

Though  he  never  attained  to  full  membership  of  the  Society 
we  must  here  mention  William  Payne  who  held  an  ap- 
pointment at  Plymouth,  and  having  a  taste  for  art  seems  to 
have  taught  himself  drawing  and  to  have  formed  an  inde- 
pendent style.  We  hear  of  him  at  Plymouth  as  early  as  1786, 
when  he  sent  a  drawing  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  from  that 
date  onwards  contributed  from  time  to  time  to  the  London 
Exhibitions.  In  1809  he  was  elected  an  associate  exhibitor  of 
the  Water-Colour  Society,  but  he  seceded  from  it  in  1812.  He 
was  for  many  years  resident  in  London,  and  his  works  found 
many  admirers  and  not  a  few  imitators.  He  was  a  brilliant 
colourist  and  was  fond  of  rather  vivid  and  startling  effects  of 
sunshine  and  shadow.  His  services  were  in  great  demand  as  a 
fashionable  teacher,  and  in  his  later  days  he  degenerated  into 
a  slovenly,  mannered  style  of  execution.  He  must  have  been 
a  very  rapid  draughtsman  as  his  works  are  very  numerous. 
He  was  the  inventor  of  a  well  known,  but  treacherous, 
purple-grey  colour  named  after  him  "Payne's  grey."  His 
death  probably  took  place  before  1820. 

Paul  Sandby  Munn  [born  1773,  died  1845]  was  an  associate 
exhibitor  of  the  first  Water-Colour  Society,  and  contributed 
once  to  the  exhibition  when  it  was  thrown  open  to  outsiders. 
He  was  a  clever  teacher,  and  painted  landscapes  and  views  in 
Wales  and  the  north  of  England.    He  scarcely  belongs  to  the 


.108 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


more  modern  period  of  the  art,  as  his  works  are  not  free 
from  the  stained  manner.    He  died  in  1845  at  Margate. 

Thomas  Heaphy,  though  of  French  descent,  was  born  in 
Cripplegate,  in  1775.  He  was  first  apprenticed  to  a  dyer,  but 
in  consequence  of  his  art  ability  he  was  passed  on  to  an  en- 
graver named  Meadows,  and  having  married  before  his  time 
expired,  he  took  to  colouring  prints  and  painting  portraits  to 
maintain  his  young  wife.  His  first  picture  to  attract  notice 
was  The  Portland  Fish  Girl,  exhibited  in  1804,  but  his 
Hastings  Fish  Market,  at  the  exhibition  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society  in  1809,  raised  him  to  the  summit  of  success. 
In  1807  he  had  been  appointed  portrait-painter  to  the  Princess 
of  Wales,  and  the  same  year  he  was  elected  an  associate  ex- 
hibitor of  the  Water-Colour  Society.  His  subject  pictures, 
though  cleverly  painted,  did  not  sell,  and  he  reverted  to  por- 
traiture, with  which  object  he  went  to  the  Peninsula,  having 
been  commissioned  to  paint  several  officers  engaged  in  the 
campaign.  From  this  date  Heaphy  can  no  longer  be  regarded 
as  belonging  to  the  Water-Colour  School.  After  his  return 
from  abroad  he  engaged  in  some  building  speculations  in  St. 
John's  Wood,  and  for  a  time  seems  to  have  given  up  painting, 
but  he  did  not  abandon  his  profession,  for  in  1824  he  took  a 
prominent  part  in  the  establishment  of  the  Society  of  British 
Artists,  and  he  became  its  first  president.  He  was  also  a 
founder  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  Heaphy  died  in 
1835.  Had  he  been  less  restless  and  unsettled,  he  might  have 
achieved  a  most  enduring  reputation ;  his  works  are  truthfully 
painted  in  transparent  colours,  and  tell  their  story  with 
directness  and  vigour. 

John  Smith  belongs  more  truly  to  a  period  anterior  to  the 
Water-Colour  Society,  and  we  have  glanced  at  his  career  in  an 
earlier  chapter.  Nor,  strictly  speaking,  can  we  regard  Augustus 


JOHN  JAMES  CHALON. 


109 


Pugin  as  a  water-colour  painter,  though  he  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  elected  a  member  of  the  Society  shortly  before  its  dis- 
solution in  1812,  after  he  had  been  for  several  years  an 
"  associate  exhibitor."  He  worked  for  all  the  best  years 
of  his  life  as  an  architect  under  Nash,  and  made  numerous 
topographic  drawings  for  Ackermann  and  others  ;  he  wrote 
also  many  works  on  architecture,  and  contributed  more  than 
any  other  author  to  the  revival  of  Gothic  architecture.  Pugin 
sketched  boldly  and  expressively,  and  produced  some  charming 
drawings,  in  which  his  knowledge  of  architectural  details  stood 
him  in  good  stead.  Prior  to  1820  he  sent  many  of  his  works 
to  the  old  Water-Colour  Gallery  as  an  exhibitor,  and  in  1821, 
when  the  Society  was  reconstituted,  he  was  again  elected  a 
member.    He  died  in  December,  1832. 

John  James  Chalon,  P. A.,  the  son  of  the  French  Professor 
at  the  Poyal  Military  College,  Sandhurst,  was  born  at  Geneva 
in  1778.  Though  placed  in  a  commercial  house  his  love  of  art 
proved  too  strong,  and  after  studying  at  the  schools  of  the 
Academy  he  began  life  as  an  oil  painter,  having  exhibited  his 
first  picture  in  1800.  In  1806  he  commenced  to  paint  in 
water-colours,  in  the  same  year  he  was  elected  a  fellow  ex- 
hibitor, and  in  1808  a  full  member  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society.  He  was  among  those  who  in  1812  seceded  from  the 
Society,  and  for  a  time  he  again  worked  chiefly  in  oil,  and 
probably  sought  Academy  honours.  These,  however,  came 
slowly,  for  though  elected  an  associate  in  1827,  he  did  not  gain 
full  membership  until  1841.  During  a  career  of  fifty  years 
he  painted  but  few  pictures  and  much  of  his  time  was  devoted 
to  teaching.  Chalon  was  a  man  of  versatile  talents,  a  clever 
draughtsman,  and  a  most  accomplished  musician.  He  was 
for  many  years  the  life  and  soul  of  the  Sketching  Society, 
and  was  equally   distinguished  for  his  landscapes  and  genre 


110 


WATER- COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


pictures.  We  have  selected  from  the  British  Museum  col- 
lection a  little  sketch  of  Cattle  in  a  Meadow  which  will 
serve  to  illustrate  his  observant  delineation  of  nature.  He 
does  not  shine  as  a  colourist,  and  his  water-colour  drawings  are 
sombre  and  somewhat  overwrought.  John  Chalon,  who  through- 
out life  resided  with  his  brother  Alfred,  died  after  a  stroke  of 
paralysis  in  1854. 

Though  somewhat  out  of  place,  we  may  here  glance  briefly  at 
the  life  of  Alfred  Edward  Chalon,  R.A.,  younger  brother 
of  the  above,  and  like  him  destined  for  commercial  pursuits. 
These  were  thoroughly  distasteful  to  him,  and  in  1797  he 
became  a  student  of  the  Academy.  In  1808  he  joined  the 
short-lived  Society  of  Associated  Artists,  and  about  this  time 
practised  portraiture  in  water-colours,  in  which  branch  of  art 
he  greatly  distinguished  himself,  and  became,  in  fact,  one  of 
the  most  fashionable  painters  of  the  day.  He  was  appointed 
painter  in  water-colours  to  the  Queen.  He  excelled  in  his 
small  full-length  portraits,  mostly  of  ladies,  which  were  charm- 
ingly posed  and  most  pleasant  in  colouring.  His  associateship 
at  the  Royal  Academy  dated  from  1812,  and  he  gained  his  mem- 
bership in  1816.  He  enjoyed  an  established  reputation  also 
for  his  subject  pictures  in  oil,  and  many  of  his  works  were  en- 
graved. In  his  later  life  he  proposed  to  give  the  large 
collection  he  had  formed  of  works  by  himself  and  his  brother 
to  the  inhabitants  of  Hampstead,  but  they  were  unable  to 
accept  the  offer.  He  then  offered  his  works  to  the  Govern- 
ment, but  while  the  matter  was  under  consideration,  he  died 
suddenly,  October  3rd,  1860,  and  by  the  direction  of  the  heir- 
at-law  at  Geneva,  the  collection  was  sold  by  auction. 

William  Delamotte  was  born  in  1780,  and,  after  studying 
for  a  time  at  the  Royal  Academy,  he  became  a  pupil  of  Sir 
Benjamin  West,  P.R.A.    He  however  before  long  determined 


WILLIAM  DELAMOTTE  ROBERT  FREEBAIRN.  113 


to  devote  himself  to  landscape  art,  and  made  a  name  for 
himself  towards  the  close  of  the  century  by  his  water-colour 
drawings  of  Welsh  scenery.  In  his  earlier  work  he  reminds 
us  of  Girtin,  but  he  subsequently  outlined  his  landscapes  with 
the  pen  and  tinted  them  in  a  characteristic  style.  He  was, 
like  so  many  artists  of  that  period,  a  clever  etcher  ;  and  he 
published,  in  1816,  Thirty  Etchings  of  Rural  Scenery.  He 
resided  for  a  time  at  Oxford,  but  in  1803  obtained  the  ap- 
pointment of  drawing  master  at  the  Military  Academy  at 
Great  Marlow.  Delamotte  afterwards  returned  to  Oxford, 
and  died  there  in  1863  at  the  age  of  83.  Many  of  his 
sketches  were  sold  by  Sotheby  in  the  following  May.  His 
works  were  carefully  and  accurately  drawn,  and  the  perspec- 
tive of  his  buildings  was  well  understood,  but  though  he 
introduced  cattle  and  animals  with  good  effect,  he  does  not 
take  high  rank  as  an  artist. 

We  have  still  to  notice  among  the  earliest  of  the  fellow 
exhibitors,  Robert  Freebairn,  who  was  born  in  1765,  and 
was  the  last  pupil  of  Richard  Wilson.  On  the  death  of  his 
master  he  visited  Italy  to  pursue  his  studies,  and  remained 
there  for  ten  years.  Returning  to  London  in  1792  he  painted 
chiefly  in  oil  and  exhibited  Italian  subjects  with  but  little  in- 
termission for  many  years  at  the  Royal  Academy.  For  two 
years  he  contributed  drawings  to  the  newly-formed  Water- 
Colour  Society,  which  were  neatly  and  carefully  finished  and 
brilliant  in  point  of  colour  though  not  of  great  excellence.  His 
death  took  place  in  1808,  at  the  early  age  of  42.  Roget  tells 
up  that  "  it  was  in  connection  with  this  event  that  a  rule  was 
made  [by  the  Water-Colour  Society]  allowing  the  family  of  a 
deceased  member  or  associate  to  exhibit  works  prepared  by 
him  for  the  gallery,"  but  Freebairn' s  widow  did  not  take  ad- 
vantage of  this  provision* 

I 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


Ramsey  Richard  Reinagle — Frederick  Nash — Thomas  Uioins, 
R.A. — William  Turner  (of  Oxford) — John  Augustus 
Atkinson — Edmund  Dorrell — Francis  Stevens  (of  Exeter) 
— John  Thurston  —  William  Scott  —  Charles  Barber — 
William  Westall,  A. R.A. — Peter  de  Wint. 

We  have  still  upon  our  list  the  names  of  a  few  of  the  artists 
who  became  members  of  the  Water-Colour  Society  during  the 
earlier  period  of  its  history,  prior  to  its  first  disintegration, 
and  who  thus  belong  more  strictly  to  the  middle  period. 
Among  these  we  must  mention  Eamsey  Richard  Reinagle, 
R.A.,  who  after  exhibiting  with  the  Society  in  1806,  was  in 
1807  elected  a  member.  At  this  period  his  works  were  chiefly 
foreign  views,  most  likely  sketches  brought  back  with  him 
from  Italy,  where  many  of  his  earlier  years  were  passed.  He 
was  the  son  of  Philip  Reinagle,  R.A.,  and  was  born  in  1775. 
Reinagle  painted  both  in  oil  and  water-colour,  and  he  also 
worked  in  distemper  on  Robert  Barker's  panoramas.  He 
entered  into  partnership  with  one  of  Barker's  sons  in  a  rival 
panorama  speculation  in  the  Strand.  He  was  a  frequent  ex- 
hibitor both  at  the  Academy  and  at  the  exhibitions  of  the 


FREDERICK  NASH  THOMAS  UWINS. 


115 


Water-Colour  Society,  of  which  he  became  the  president  in 
1808,  but  in  1812  he  was  one  of  the  seceders.  He  was  elected 
an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  1814,  and  gained  his  mem- 
bership in  1823.  His  animal  pictures  have  not  the  vigour  and 
truth  of  those  painted  by  his  father,  and  his  name  is  chiefly 
remembered  in  consequence  of  a  curious  scandal  in  connection 
with  a  work  he  sent  to  the  Academy  in  1848.  It  seems  that 
having  purchased  a  landscape,  he  exhibited  it  in  his  own  name, 
and  the  matter  having  been  remarked  upon  an  enquiry  was 
instituted.  As  the  result  of  the  investigation  Reinagle 
was  compelled  to  resign  his  diploma,  but  he  still  continued 
to  exhibit,  and  in  his  old  age  he  received  an  allowance 
from  the  Academy.  He  died  at  Chelsea,  November  17th, 
1862. 

Frederick  Nash  was  born  in  Lambeth  in  1782,  and  after 
studying  art  under  Malton,  he  worked  as  a  draughtsman  for 
Sir  R.  Smirke.  He  exhibited  for  a  while  from  1800  onwards 
at  the  Academy,  and  in  1811  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society,  at  which  time  he  was  the  draughtsman 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  He  seceded  from  the  Society 
in  1812,  but  he  occasionally  sent  drawings  to  their  gallery, 
and  in  1824  he  was  re-elected  a  member.  He  excelled  in  the 
pictorial  treatment  of  architecture,  with  well  introduced 
figures  and  accessories.  Being  engaged  on  a  work  illustrating 
the  French  palaces,  many  of  his  exhibited  drawings  were 
views  of  Paris  and  Versailles.  Subsequently  Nash  travelled 
on  the  Rhine  and  in  Switzerland,  and  his  continental  sub- 
jects were  greatly  admired  and  produced  high  prices.  He 
died  at  Brighton,  December  5th,  1856.  Many  of  Nash's 
topographical  publications  are  standard  works. 

Thomas  Uwins,  R.A.,  born  at  Pentonville,  February  24th, 

i  2 


116 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


1782,  was  apprenticed  to  an  engraver,  but  relinquished  his 
articles  in  order  to  study  at  the  Academy  schools.  He  first 
essayed  portraiture  and  book  illustration,  and  in  1808  became 
an  associate  and  in  the  following  year  a  full  member  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society.  He  painted  chiefly  rustic  figure  sub- 
jects, and  delighted  in  brilliant  sunny  groups.  Owing  to  failing 
health  he  went  in  1814  to  the  south  of  France,  where  he  re- 
mained for  several  years,  working  mainly  for  the  publishers. 
He  resigned  his  membership  of  the  Society  in  1818,  and  went 
to  live  in  Edinburgh,  where  he  practised  as  a  portrait-painter, 
and  drew  likenesses  in  crayons.  He  afterwards  spent  seven 
years  in  the  south  of  Italy,  and  on  his  return  exhibited  many 
successful  works  in  oil,  inspired  by  his  recollections  of  that 
country.  He  was  elected  an  Academician  in  1838,  and  in  1844 
was  appointed  the  librarian.  A  few  years  later  we  find  him 
installed  as  surveyor  of  crown  pictures  and  keeper  of  the 
National  Gallery,  but  he  resigned  both  appointments  in  1855, 
in  consequence  of  ill  health.  His  death  took  place  at  Staines, 
whither  he  had  retired  to  end  his  days,  August  25th,  1857. 

William  Turner,  generally  known  as  "  Turner  of  Oxford/' 
to  distinguish  him  from  others  of  the  same  name,  w?as  born  in 
1789,  and  studied  under  John  Yarley.  We  first  meet  with  him 
as  an  exhibitor  in  1808  at  the  Water-Colour  Society,  and  in 
1809  he  became  a  member.  Turner  was  also  one  of  the  original 
members  of  the  Sketching  Society.  The  wThole  of  his  life  was 
passed  in  the  vicinity  of  Oxford,  and  he  painted  many  of  his 
principal  drawings  in  its  streets  and  suburbs.  He  was  a 
diligent  and  faithful  observer  of  nature,  and  transferred 
what  was  before  him  to  his  sketch-book  with  directness  and 
precision.  His  views  painted  later  in  life  on  the  downs  with 
groups  of  sheep  and  cattle  were  among  his  best  productions, 


JOHN  AUGUSTUS  ATKINSON — EDMUND  DORRELL.  117 


but  he  delighted  also  in  the  mountain  scenery  of  Wales  and 
Scotland.  He  was  married  but  left  no  family.  In  the  fifty- 
five  years  during  which  he  contributed  to  the  exhibitions  he 
sent  no  less  than  455  drawings,  generally  somewhat  large  in 
size.  After  his  death,  in  1862,  his  drawings,  which  had  met 
with  but  few  purchasers  during  his  lifetime,  were  sold  by 
auction  at  Christie's  in  March  1863. 

John  Augustus  Atkinson,  though  born  in  England,  in  1775, 
passed  many  of  his  earlier  years  in  St.  Petersburg,  where  he 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  Empress  Catherine,  and  worked 
under  her  patronage,  and  that  of  her  son,  the  Emperor  Paul. 
He  returned  to  England  in  1801,  and  occupied  himself  in  the 
publication  of  several  works  illustrating  Russian  life  and 
character,  with  designs  in  mezzotint,  drawn  and  etched  by 
himself.  He  is  perhaps  best  known  by  these  publications  and 
by  other  works  illustrated  in  a  similar  way.  Thus  in  1807  he 
produced  A  Picturesque  Representation  of  the  Costumes  of  Great 
Britain,  in  100  coloured  plates.  He  joined  the  Water-Colour 
Society  as  an  associate  exhibitor  in  1808,  and  exhibited 
with  them  from  time  to  time  until  1818.  His  best  drawings 
were  battles  and  camp  scenes,  the  outlines  drawn  in  with  the 
pen ;  he  also  painted  cleverly  in  oil.  He  retired  to  Exeter, 
of  which  city  he  is  believed  to  have  been  a  native,  about 
1829. 

Edmund  Dorrell  [born  1778,  died  1857],  was  a  native  of 
Warwick,  where  he  was  educated  by  an  uncle  for  the  medical 
profession.  His  fondness  of  art,  however,  induced  him  to 
follow  the  bent  of  his  genius,  and  he  ultimately  came  to 
London  and  enjoyed  a  fair  amount  of  success  as  a  landscape 
painter.  He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1810,  but  seceded  in  1812.    Several  examples  of 


118 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


his  work  were  presented  to  the  Historical  Collection  at  South 
Kensington  by  Miss  Jane  Dorrell. 

Francis  Stevens,  sometimes  known  as  "Stevens  of  Exeter," 
was  born  in  1781,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Munn.  He  became  a 
member  of  the  Water-Colour  Society  in  1806,  and  with  the 
brothers  Chalon  he  originated,  in  1808,  the  well  known  Sketch- 
ing Society.  He  subsequently  joined  the  Norwich  Society  of 
Artists,  and  resigned  his  membership  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society.  For  a  few  years  afterwards  he  sent  works  in  oil 
and  water-colour  to  the  Academy  from  Exeter  where  he  then 
resided,  but  we  can  find  no  record  of  the  date  of  his  decease. 

John  Thurston  [1774 — 1822],  who  was  among  the  earliest 
of  the  associate  exhibitors  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  was 
perhaps  the  foremost  wood  engraver  of  his  time,  and  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  advancement  of  his  art.  He  has  slight 
claim  to  rank  as  a  water-colour  draughtsman,  though  he  made 
some  clever  studies  in  this  medium  which  were  generally 
tinted  in  Indian  ink.  He  was  trained  as  a  copper-plate 
engraver  under  James  Heath,  and  worked  chiefly  for  the 
Chiswick  Press.  Some  of  his  best  designs  are  those  for 
AVhittingham's  Shakespeare,  published  in  1814,  Falconer's 
Shipwreck,  1817,  and  Rural  Sports,  1818. 

William  Scott  was  another  associate  exhibitor  of  the 
Society  who  never  attained  full  membership.  He  resided  all 
his  life  at  Brighton,  and  painted  the  landscape  scenery  of  the 
South  Downs.  He  continued  occasionally  to  contribute  to 
the  exhibitions  in  London  till  1850.  In  1812  he  published 
Etchings  on  Stone,  to  imitate  drawings  in  black  and  white. 

Charles  Barber,  also  an  associate  exhibitor,  enjoyed  a 
considerable  provincial  reputation,  and  was  the  president  of 
the  Liverpool  Institute  of  Arts.    He  occasionally  contributed 


WILLTAM  WEST  ALL — PETER  DE  WINT. 


110 


landscapes  to  the  Water-Colour  Society's  Gallery.  He  died  at 
Liverpool,  January  1854.  We  hear  of  him  as  the  friend  and 
fellow  student  of  David  Cox. 

William  Westall,  A.R.  A.,  who  was  the  younger  brother  of 
Richard  Westall,  the  Academician,  was  born  at  Hertford  in 
1781.  His  life  was  one  abounding  with  adventures,  and  he 
spent  many  years  in  travelling.  He  sailed  with  Commander 
Flinders  in  1801,  on  his  voyage  of  discovery  to  Australia,  as 
draughtsman  to  the  expedition,  and  was  shipwrecked  on  the 
North  coast.  Here  he  was  picked  up  by  a  passing  ship  sailing 
to  China,  where  he  remained  several  months,  and  on  his  way 
back  to  England  he  spent  some  time  in  India,  in  which 
country  he  made  many  sketches  and  received  much  kindness. 
After  his  return  home  he  went  to  Madeira,  where  he  was 
nearly  drowned,  and  also  to  the  West  Indies.  In  1808,  after 
privately  exhibiting  his  sketches  and  drawings  in  Brook  Street, 
he  joined  the  Associated  Artists  in  Water  Colours,  and  in 
1811  he  became  an  associate  exhibitor  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society,  but  though  elected  a  member  of  that 
body  in  1812,  he  almost  immediately  resigned  on  being 
chosen  an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy  in  the  same  year. 
Though  his  chief  works  were  in  water-colours  he  sometimes 
painted  in  oil.  His  reputation  rests  mainly  on  his  illustrated 
publications  which  were  very  numerous.  He  died  at  St.  John's 
Wood  from  the  effects  of  an  accident  in  1850.  Many  of  his 
best  drawings  w^ere  in  illustration  of  his  travels  and  voyages  ; 
he  was  a  skilful  draughtsman  and  a  good  colourist,  and  he 
finished  his  works  most  carefully. 

Peter  De  Wint,  as  will  be  apparent  from  his  name,  was  of 
Dutch  extraction.  His  family,  originally  from  Amsterdam, 
migrated  to  America,  and  the  father  of  young  De  Wint  came 


120 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


from  thence  to  this  country,  and  settled  at  Stone  in  Stafford- 
shire. Here  our  artist  was  born,  January  21st,  1784,  and  was 
at  first  destined  for  his  father's  profession,  that  of  medicine. 
For  this,  however,  he  had  no  taste,  so  he  was  permitted  to 
follow  the  bent  of  his  inclinations,  and  was  placed  at  the 
age  of  eighteen  under  Raphael  Smith,  the  engraver.  There 
he  had  Hilton  for  a  fellow  pupil,  for  whom  he  conceived  a 
most  sincere  friendship,  which  lasted  throughout  life.  He 
does  not  appear  to  have  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  engraving, 
but  in  company  with  Hilton  he  worked  hard  at  his  art,  sketch- 
ing in  all  his  spare  time  and  painting  portraits  for  his  master. 
After  studying  for  some  years  at  the  Academy  schools  he  be- 
came an  associate  exhibitor  of  the  "Water-Colour  Society  in 
1810,  and  two  years  later  attained  membership.  In  1810  he 
married  Harriet  Hilton,  the  only  sister  of  his  friend,  and 
Hilton  came  to  reside  with  the  young  couple.  For  seventeen 
years  they  lived  together  in  Percy  Street,  until  the  time  of 
Hilton's  own  marriage,  in  1828,  when  he  became  the  keeper  of 
the  Royal  Academy. 

De  Wint  was  widely  known  in  his  day  as  a  fashionable 
teacher,  and  his  drawings  were  much  sought  after.  His  strong 
love  of  English  scenery  prevented  him  from  caring  to  go  abroad, 
and  he  rejected  all  inducements  to  try  foreign  landscape.  He 
visited  Lincoln,  the  home  of  his  wife's  family,  every  summer, 
and  here  some  of  his  best  works  were  produced.  He  loved  to 
paint  in  Derbyshire  and  Yorkshire,  and  he  made  many  studies 
on  the  Trent.  De  Wint  was  fond  of  visiting  the  country  seats 
of  his  patrons,  and  there  he  painted  many  of  his  finest  works 
His  skill  as  a  water-colour  draughtsman  has  caused  him  to  be 
little  thought  of  as  an  oil  painter,  though  he  excelled  also  in 
this  medium.  - 


m 
p 

P3 
H 


O 
ft 


CO 


o 


H 

O 

M 


PETER  DE  WJNT. 


123 


His  method  in  water-colours  was  very  simple.  He  rarely 
used  more  than  ten  pigments,  which  were  as  follows  : — 


The  last  two  colours  he  employed  in  a  special  preparation 
which  has  proved  very  unstable  and  has  led  to  the  serious  injury 
of  some  of  his  best  works.  He  made  a  practice  of  painting  on 
ivory-tinted  Creswick  paper,  the  surface  of  which  he  kept  very 
wet.  De  Wint  had  a  good  connection  among  the  publishers, 
and  he  produced  many  works  for  book  illustration ;  his  drawings 
lend  themselves  well  for  reproduction  by  means  of  engraving. 

He  was,  we  consider,  one  of  the  most  original  and  talented 
of  the  earlier  members  of  the  Society.  He  drew  his  inspi- 
ration directly  from  nature,  and  he  had  a  deep  appre- 
ciation of  the  charms  of  our  native  English  scenery,  which 
he  handled  with  rare  skill.  It  has  been  well  said  of  his 
art  that  it  was  " neither  realistic  nor  ideal."  He  had  a  wonder- 
ful sense  of  beauty  of  line,  and  he  represented  a  wide  land- 
scape with  comparatively  little  labour,  for  he  applied  his  washes 
freely  and  boldly,  seldom  resorting  to  stippling,  and,  except  in 
his  later  works,  he  eschewed  the  use  of  body  colour.  His  trees 
are  well  massed,  but  he  had  no  special  touches  for  his  foliage. 
We  admire  him  most  in  some  of  his  slighter  sketches,  such 
as  those  in  the  beautiful  collection  bequeathed  by  Mr.  John 
Henderson  to  the  National  Gallery,  which  though  at  times 
somewhat  dark,  are  sparkling  in  their  high  lights.  Several  fine 
examples  of  his  more  elaborate  compositions  are  contained  among 


Yellow  Ochre. 
Gamboge. 
Vermilion. 
Indian  Red. 
Purple  Lake. 


Brown  Pink. 
Burnt  Sienna. 
Sepia. 


Prussian  Blue. 
Indigo. 


124: 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


the  historical  series  at  South  Kensington.  We  may  specially 
mention  The  Cricketers,  to  our  mind  one  of  the  noblest 
water-colours  of  the  English  school.  De  Wint  died  of  heart- 
disease,  June  30th,  1849.  We  have  been  enabled  to  reproduce 
one  of  his  smaller  works  at  Kensington,  the  view  of  Torksey 
Castle,  a  pleasing  example  of  his  art. 

Before  we  enter  upon  our  account  of  the  period  which  im- 
mediately followed  the  disintegration  of  the  first  Water-Colour 
Society,  we  may  pause  for  a  moment  to  glance  at  the  position 
of  the  art  about  that  time.  The  earlier  stained  manner  had 
become  quite  extinct — a  race  of  painters  had  arisen  who  had 
shaken  off  the  formal  mannerism  of  the  successors  of  the 
topographers,  who  studied  composition  as  a  distinct  branch  of 
their  art,  and  who  rendered  figure  subjects  and  animals  with 
all  the  force  and  brilliancy  of  the  oil  painters.  The  artists  of 
that  day  trusted  almost  entirely  to  transparent  colours,  and 
obtained  their  high  lights  from  the  white  ground.  The  seduc- 
tiveness of  opaque  pigments  had  as  yet  no  hold  upon  the  school, 
and  if  we  exclude  certain  tricky  methods,  to  which  we  have 
briefly  alluded,  such  as  Yarley's  whitey-brown  paper  and 
Nicholson's  varnish,  we  may  take  it  that  the  work  as  a  whole 
was  a  genuine  rendering  of  water-colour  art.  Moreover,  the 
Society  already  included  among  its  ranks  many  artists  of 
acknowledged  genius,  who  had  shaped  out  a  path  for  themselves 
in  this  new  medium,  and  the  great  English  school  of  water- 
colour  painters  was  by  this  time  established  upon  a  firm  basis 


CHAPTER  IX. 


Anthony  Vandyke  Copley  Fielding — David  Cox — John  Linnell 
— Frederick  Mackenzie  —  James  Holmes  —  Henry  John 
Richter — Harriet  Gouldsmith — Henry  C.  Allport. 

We  have  seen  that  a  variety  of  causes  contributed  to  the 
downfall  of  the  first  Water-Colour  Society,  not  by  any  means 
the  least  important  of  which  was  the  waning  popularity  of 
its  exhibitions.  The  oil  painters  had  for  so  long  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  leading  position  that  their  brethren  of  the 
brush,  working  in  the  new  medium,  felt  unable  for  a  time  to 
claim  a  distinct  place  for  themselves,  where  their  art  should 
stand  to  be  judged  on  its  own  merits.  It  was  this  want  of 
confidence  that,  at  Glover's  suggestion,  led  to  the  insidious 
introduction  of  oil  pictures  along  with  the  water-colours,  after 
the  downfall  of  the  original  Society.  It  is  true  that  there  was 
an  understanding  that  the  works  of  the  oil  painters  should  be 
kept  distinct  from  those  in  water  colours,  but  we  find  no  trace 
in  the  catalogue  or  in  contemporary  notices  of  the  exhibitions 
that  this  arrangement  was  adhered  to.  There  is  reason  to 
suppose  that  the  contributions  by  the  oil  painters  did  not  con- 
stitute the  most  attractive  section  of  the  displays,  during  the 
period  from  1812  to  1821,  and  few  men  of  note  made  a  name 


126 


WATER- COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


for  themselves  in  this  branch  of  art  in  the  Spring  Gardens 
Gallery.  At  the  time  of  the  dissolution  of  the  Society  there 
were  among  the  associate  exhibitors  several  artists  destined 
somewhat  later  to  become  famous  as  water-colour  painters, 
and  one  of  these  proved  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  founders 
of  the  new  society.  This  was  Anthony  Vandyke  Copley 
Fielding,  who  came  of  a  family  of  painters,  and  who 
wrould  seem  from  his  Christian  names  to  have  been  intended 
from  his  birth  for  the  same  career.  He  was  born  in  1787,  and 
studied  under  John  Yarley.  Fielding  was  another  of  the 
group  encouraged  by  Dr.  Monro.  For  some  years  previous 
to  his  election  as  a  member  he  exhibited  with  the  Water- 
Colour  Society,  and  he  also  sent  a  few  of  his  drawings  to  the 
Academy.  Many  of  his  pictures  were  painted  in  oils,  but  his 
reputation  rests  upon  his  water-colour  drawings.  He  became 
an  associate  of  the  first  "Water-Colour  Society  in  1810  and 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  reconstituted  body  in  1812.  He 
served  successively  the  posts  of  treasurer,  secretary,  deputy 
president  for  Cristall,  and  in  1831  he  was  elected  president 
of  the  Society  ;  and  this  office  he  filled  until  his  death. 

Copley  Fielding  early  in  his  career  enjoyed  considerable 
success  as  a  teacher ;  and  it  is  not  unlikely  that  his  art  to 
some  extent  suffered  from  this  avocation,  for  he  learned  to 
value  hasty  and  dexterous  execution,  and  placed  more  and 
more  reliance  upon  the  manipulative  processes  which  he  was  in 
the  constant  habit  of  impressing  upon  his  pupils.  Among 
these  we  include  washing  out,  the  use  of  bread,  scraping  the 
surface  with  a  knife,  &c.  Fielding  pleases  us  most  in  his 
marine  views,  which  are  very  numerous,  though  his  subjects 
were  somewhat  hackneyed.  We  see  over  and  over  again  the 
same  stretch  of  rolling  sea  flecked  with  sunshine,  the  boat 


COPLEY  FIELDING. 


127 


with  its  tawny  sail  and  the  wind-driven  clouds,  the  latter,  with 
the  passing  effect  of  a  squall,  serving  as  the  cold  background 
to  the  fishing  boat.  It  is  true  there  is  a  sense  of  movement  in 
the  waves  and  a  nice  feeling  for  colour,  but  we  are  wearied 
with  constant  repetitions,  and  the  works  seldom  charm  us  with 
any  variation  in  treatment  or  with  any  indication  of  an  attempt 
to  represent  nature  as  he  saw  it.  In  his  landscapes  he  was 
fond  of  the  undulating  scenery  of  the  downs,  which  he  painted 
in  a  grey,  somewhat  insipid,  tone.  He  was  well  versed  in 
the  art  of  composition  which  he  had  doubtless  learned  from 
Yarley,  but  in  his  efforts  to  improve  nature,  and  in  his  search 
after  refinement  and  polish,  he  is  too  apt  to  degenerate 
into  tameness  and  to  produce  in  his  works  an  over-laboured 
effect. 

Copley  Fielding,  notwithstanding  these  shortcomings,  exer- 
cised a  considerable  influence  on  the  rising  school,  and  in  his 
numerous  works  set  a  fashion  in  art  of  which  the  traces 
remain  to  the  present  day.  Professor  Kuskin,  in  his  Modem 
Painters,  has  repeatedly  praised  his  work  in  no  measured 
terms  and  in  one  place  he  declares — "  In  his  down  scenes  he 
produced  some  of  the  most  perfect  and  faultless  passages  of 
mist  and  raincloud  which  art  has  ever  seen.  Wet,  transparent, 
formless,  full  of  motion,  felt  rather  by  their  shadows  on  the  hills 
than  by  their  presence  in  the  sky,  becoming  dark  only  through 
increased  depth  of  space,  most  translucent  when  most  sombre, 
and  light  only  through  increased  buoyancy  of  motion,  letting 
the  blue  through  their  interstices,  and  the  sunlight  through 
their  chasms,  with  the  irregular  playfulness  of  Nature  herself, 
his  skies  will  remain  as  long  as  their  colours  stand,  among  the 
most  simple,  unadulterated  and  complete  transcripts  of  a 
particular  nature  which  art  can  point  to."    Fielding  was  a 


128 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


most  prolific  painter,  sending  in  1819  forty-six  frames  with 
seventy-one  sketches,  and  in  1820  forty-three  frames,  contain- 
ing fifty-six  drawings,  to  the  Water-Colour  exhibition.  He 
resided  for  all  the  latter  part  of  his  life  at  Hove,  near  Brighton, 
and  died  at  Worthing  on  March  3,  1855.  Some  of  his  best 
works  have  realized  remarkable  prices,  and  in  the  Quilter  sale 
in  1875  his  drawing  of  the  Mull  of  Galloway  was  sold  for 
£1,732  10s.  The  Historical  Collection  possesses  several 
of  his  finest  works,  notably  the  Vale  of  Irthing,  and  A 
Ship  in  Distress.  We  have  illustrated  a  small  picture  from 
this  Gallery,  a  View  of  Ben  Lomond,  showing  us  a  glimpse 
of  the  loch  and  the  distant  mountain,  seen  from  a  wooded 
foreground.  The  lights  on  the  figures  appear  to  have  been 
scraped  out  with  a  knife  ;  this  little  drawing  is  signed  and 
dated  1850. 

This  would  seem  to  be  a  fitting  opportunity  to  treat  of  the 
new  members  who  came  forward  at  the  time  of  the  reconstruc- 
tion of  the  Society  to  strengthen  the  hands  of  Glover  and  his 
friends.  Chief  among  them  we  must  "place  David  Cox,  the 
son  of  a  Birmingham  blacksmith,  born  April  29,  1783.  As  a 
child  he  was  sickly  and  delicate,  and  having  shown  in  boy- 
hood a  fondness  for  art  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  locket- painter, 
in  which  work  he  became  extremely  expert.  On  the  death  of 
his  master  he  was  engaged  in  a  humble  capacity  among  the 
scene-painters  of  the  Birmingham  Theatre.  For  four  years 
young  Cox  remained  with  the  company  and  painted  for  Mac- 
ready,  the  stage-manager,  a  set  of  scenes  for  the  Sheffield 
Theatre,  improving  much  in  his  art  and  roving  about  from 
place  to  place  as  is  the  custom  with  strolling  players.  Cox 
disliked  this  unsettled  life,  and  he  therefore  came  to  London, 
and  found  employment  at  Astley's  Theatre.    By  a  fortunate 


DAVID  COX. 


131 


accident  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  John  Varley  who  be- 
friended him  and  invited  him  to  his  studio.  In  1805  Cox  paid 
a  visit  to  Wales,  a  country  whose  scenery  he  has  subsequently 
made  us  so  familiar  with,  and  on  his  return  he  exhibited  his 
sketches.  In  1808  he  married  Mary  Ragg,  the  daughter  of 
his  landlady,  who  was  some  twelve  years  his  senior,  but  who 
proved  an  excellent  and  devoted  wife.  Shortly  after  his 
marriage  he  removed  to  the  outskirts  of  London  and  took  a 
small  cottage  on  Dulwich  Common.  Here  he  painted  and  gave 
lessons.  We  first  find  him  as  a  contributor  to  the  short- 
lived exhibition  in  New  Bond  Street,  and  then  in  1813  he 
became  a  member  of  the  reconstituted  Water-Colour  Society, 
contributing  in  that  year  no  less  than  seventeen  drawings  to 
the  Gallery. 

In  1814  he  was  appointed  to  teach  landscape  drawing  to 
the  senior  officers  at  the  Staff  College,  near  Farnham,  and  in 
order  to  discharge  his  duties  he  took  up  his  residence  at  the 
College,  but  he  found  the  work  irksome  and  very  soon 
resigned  the  post.  Cox  then  became  the  teacher  of  a  ladies' 
school  kept  by  Miss  Croucher  and  he  resided  at  Hereford 
from  1815  to  1827,  making,  however,  frequent  visits  to  the 
Metropolis,  when  he  ultimately  came  to  London  and  lived  in 
Kennington  until  1841.  About  this  period  he  was  fully 
engaged  in  teaching  and  could  not  devote  so  much  time  as  he 
wished  to  his  art,  so  he  resolved  to  quit  London  and  to  end  his 
days  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  native  town.  He  retired  to 
Harborne,  a  suburb  of  Birmingham,  where  he  turned  his 
attention  chiefly  to  painting  in  oil  and  produced  many  fine 
works  in  this  medium.  Shortly  after  he  came  to  Birmingham, 
in  1845,  his  wife  died  and  her  loss  was  a  great  shock  to  him. 
He  was  at  this  time  painting  much  from  Welsh  scenery  and 


132 


WATER-COLOUR 


PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


paying  annual  visits  to  Bettws-y-Coed,  a  neighbourhood  he 
greatly  admired.  His  son,  also  an  artist,  frequently  came 
to  see  him,  and  he  drew  round  him  at  Harborne  a  circle  of 
friends  and  admirers  of  his  art  who  appreciated  his  rare  talents 
long  before  the  London  amateurs  had  become  aware  of  his 
marvellous  genius. 

Cox  was  throughout  life  most  simple-minded  and  modest  in 
his  tastes  ;  he  was  plain  and  homely  in  his  exterior  and  was 
known  to  the  artists  of  that  day  as  "  Old  Farmer  Cox." 
After  his  death  on  June  7,  1859,  he  was  buried  in  Harborne 
Churchyard.  His  friends  subscribed  for  a  memorial  window  to 
be  placed  in  the  church  which  bears  the  following  simple 
inscription  :  "  To  the  Glory  of  God  and  in  Memory  of  David 
Cox,  Artist,  this  window  was  erected  by  a  few  friends, 
a.d.  1874."  Cox  published  in  1814  A  Treatise  on  Landscape 
Fainting  in  Water-Colours,  and  later  in  life  he  prepared  a 
series  of  one  hundred  drawings  in  sepia  for  the  purpose  of 
illustrating  his  book,  which  intention  was,  however,  aban- 
doned. The  drawings  were  acquired  by  Mr.  Quilter,  and 
on  his  death  were  sold  by  auction. 

Few  who  have  handled  water-colour  drawings  can  have  failed 
to  become  impressed  with, a  sense  of  the  strong  individuality  of 
the  works  of  David  Cox.  He  applied  his  colours  with  a  full 
brush,  and  disregarding  all  minute  detail  and  finish,  he  aimed 
at  general  effects.  He  often  carries  one  tint  into  another 
while  wet,  and  takes  out  masses  of  light  with  his  pocket-knife. 
As  the  authors  of  the  Century  of  Painters  tell  us — "No 
painter  has  given  us  more  truly  the  moist  brilliancy  of  early 
summer  time,  ere  the  sun  has  dried  the  spring  bloom  from  the 
lately-opened  leaf.  The  sparkle  and  shimmer  of  foliage  and 
weedage  in  the  fitful  breeze  that  rolls  away  the  clouds  from  the 


o 

o 
p 

(—1 

i> 
< 

ft 


PQ 
o 


3 


DAVID  COX  JOHN  LINNELL. 


135 


watery  sun,  when  the  shower  and  the  sunshine  chase  each 
other  over  the  land,  have  never  been  given  with  greater  truth 
than  by  David  Cox." 

He  used  at  times  a  coarse  straw  paper,  and  on  this  he  freely 
employed  body-colour  and  scratched  away  the  surface  for 
high  lights.  It  was  in  this  manner  that  some  of  his  largest 
and  most  important  drawings  such  as  the  Welsh  Funeral 
were  produced.  Respecting  his  choice  of  subjects,  as  we  have 
pointed  out  in  a  memoir  of  this  artist,  he  saw  pictures  on  all 
sides,  and  could  produce  half-a-dozen  sketches  in  a  single  field. 
"  How  slight  is  the  subject  of  many  of  his  most  charming 
drawings  !  A  wide  expanse  of  sky  which  we  can  almost  fancy 
in  motion;  a  grey  undulating  moorland  whose  colouring 
would  seem  to  be  indicated  by  one  sweep  of  a  well-filled 
pencil ;  a  few  peasants  according  admirably  in  character  with 
the  landscape,  and  the  whole  so  perfect  that  we  feel  that 
another  touch  would  spoil  it,  and  the  least  attempt  to  finish 
would  destroy  all  the  charms  of  its  effect." 

Towards  the  close  of  his  life  Cox  as  we  have  stated  painted 
much  in  oil,  though  his  works  in  this  medium  were  rarely  seen 
in  London.  He  still  continued,  however,  to  exhibit  with 
the  "Water-Colour  Society.  We  have  chosen  to  illustrate 
this  artist's  work  a  small  sketch  from  the  British  Museum, 
Pont  Aber,  Wales.  In  the  foreground  is  some  rock  work 
covered  with  heath,  round  which  winds  a  road ;  the  back- 
ground has  a  glimpse  of  blue  mountains.  The  handling  is 
extremely  sketchy,  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  for  what  the 
figures  are  intended — a  figure  originally  placed  beside  the 
pony  (?)  has  apparently  been  sponged  out. 

John  Linnell,  whose  name  is  more  famous  for  his  works 
in  oil  than  as  a  water-colour  painter,  was  one  of  those  to  join 


136  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


the  reconstructed  society.  He  was  born  in  London  in  1792. 
He  studied  art  under  Varley,  and  his  first  drawings  were 
most  probably  in  water-colours.  During  his  early  life  he 
worked  chiefly  as  a  portrait-painter.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
that  when  the  final  change  excluding  oil  paintings  from  the 
exhibitions  of  the  Oil  and  Water-Colour  Society  was  made  and 
Linnell  resigned  his  membership,  he  withdrew  his  fourteenth 
share  of  the  surplus  fund,  on  the  ground,  as  stated  by  Roget, 
"  That  the  Society  had  altered  their  plans,  so  as  to  prevent 
him  from  continuing  with  them  whilst  following  oil  painting, 
his  present  branch  of  the  art."  After  his  severance  from  the 
Society  he  worked  but  little  in  water-colours,  and  was  mainly 
employed  for  some  years  in  copying  at  the  National  Gallery. 
He  acquired  a  handsome  fortune  by  his  profession,  and  settled 
at  Redhill,  Surrey,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-nine  in 
1882. 

Frederick  Mackenzie,  born  1787,  was  a  pupil  of  Repton, 
the  architect,  and  excelled  in  his  drawings  of  Gothic  architec- 
ture. He  was  one  of  the  artists  who  took  part  in  the  recon- 
struction of  the  Water-Colour  Society  in  1812,  but  having 
given  up  his  membership  he  was  again  elected  an  associate 
exhibitor  in  1822,  a  member  in  1823,  and  became  the 
treasurer  in  1831.  He  generally  painted  the  interiors  of 
cathedrals  and  churches  with  a  few  well-introduced  figures 
subordinated  to  the  architecture,  and  he  published  several 
treatises  on  drawing  and  painting,  among  which  we  may 
mention  Etchings  of  Landscapes  in  1812,  and  in  conjunction 
with  Pugin  Specimens  of  Gothic  Architecture  in  1825,  He 
was  in  constant  employment  for  Ackermann's  publications 
and  he  assisted  Britton  in  many  of  his  works.  He  died  in 
1854.    We  have  reproduced  a  sketch  by  this  artist  of  Antwerp 


ANTWERP  CATHEDRAL. 

In  the  Print  Boom, 


By  Frederick  Mackenzie. 
British  Museum. 


JAMES   HOLMES  HENRY  JOHN  RICHTER. 


139 


Cathedral,  which  is  little  more  than  a  delicate  pencil  outline 
slightly  washed  with  sepia,  but  which  serves  to  show  the 
facile  touch  with  which  he  indicated  the  details  of  Gothic 
architecture. 

James  Holmes,  born  in  1777,  was  apprenticed  to  an  engraver 
and  subsequently  adopted  water-colour  painting  as  his  profes- 
sion. He  delineated  rustic  subjects  with  much  skill  and 
humour  and  his  works  took  the  public  fancy.  His  subject 
pictures  were  of  a  popular  and,  Roget  says,  even  of  a  vulgar 
type,  but  he  soon  took  to  portrait  painting,  and  as  early  as 
1815  many  of  his  contributions  to  the  exhibitions  of  the 
Water-Colour  Society  were  miniatures,  the  beauty  of  which 
speedily  gained  him  fashionable  sitters.  Holmes  was  likewise 
a  clever  musician  and  gained  the  patronage  of  George  IV., 
who  delighted  in  his  singing  and  playing.  He  is  best 
known  by  his  miniatures  of  the  celebrities  of  his  day.  In  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  he  retired  into  Shropshire,  where  he  died 
February  24,  1860. 

Henry  John  Richter  was  of  German  extraction,  and  painted 
figure  subjects  chiefly  of  a  domestic  character.  He  belonged 
in  the  first  instance,  as  we  have  seen,  to  the  Associated 
Artists,  of  which  Society  he  was  for  a  time  the  president. 
His  connection  with  the  Water-Colour  Society  was  of  an 
extremely  uncertain  nature ;  he  appears  to  have  resigned  his 
membership,  shortly  after  election  in  1813  and  to  have  become 
a  member  again  in  1821.  In  the  interval  he  remained  an 
occasional  exhibitor.  He,  however,  again  resigned  his 
membership  and  in  1823  was  an  "associate  exhibitor,"  in 
1825  a  member,  and  in  1828,  having  the  year  before  again 
resigned,  he  is  an  "  associate."  This  was  not  the  last  change, 
but  we  cannot  record  all  the  fluctuations  in  his  position. 
His  pictures  were  very  popular  in  their  day  and  many  of  them 


140 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


were  engraved.  One  of  his  works,  Christ  giving  Sight  to  the 
Blind  was  purchased  by  the  Directors  of  the  British  Institu- 
tion for  five  hundred  guineas.  Richter  was  of  a  philosophic 
temperament ;  he  published  a  work  with  a  strange  title,  on  the 
philosophy  of  the  Fine  Arts  in  1817,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
death  he  was  engaged  in  the  translation  of  a  work  on 
Metaphysics  by  Beck.  He  died  in  Marylebone  in  1857, 
aged  eighty-five. 

Harriet  Gouldsmith,  also  a  member  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society  on  its  reconstruction,  was  a  constant  contributor  of 
landscapes  until  1820.  Her  drawings  wrere  pleasing  and  wrell- 
esteemed,  she  was  likewise  an  expert  etcher  and  she  drew  on 
stone  for  Hullmandel.  After  her  marriage  with  Captain 
Arnold,  about  1839,  she  continued  to  exhibit  in  her  married 
name.  Mrs.  Arnold's  death  took  place  at  the  age  of  76 
in  1863. 

Henry  C.  Allport  after  exhibiting  for  some  years  with  the 
Water-Colour  Society  and  at  the  Academy  was,  as  already 
stated,  on  the  retirement  of  Glover,  elected  a  member  in  1818. 
He  painted  landscape  scenery  with  great  delicacy  and  a  high 
degree  of  finish.  Some  of  his  later  subjects  were  from  places  in 
Italy.  He  ceased  to  exhibit  in  1823,  when  according  to 
Dr.  Percy  he  is  reported  to  have  gone  into  the  wine  trade. 
Iloget  adds — "  His  surname  was  one  to  give  colour  to 
the  rumour." 

A  few  of  the  names  found  in  the  catalogues  of  the  Oil  and 
Water-Colour  Exhibitions  are  those  of  artists  who  painted 
solely  in  the  former  medium  and  who  do  not  therefore  enter  the 
scope  of  the  present  work.  Some  of  them  attained  the  rank 
of  Associates  in  the  Society,  but  are  lost  sight  of  when  the 
original  intention  to  exclude  oil  paintings  was  reverted  to  in 
1821. 


CHAPTER  X. 


Richard  Parkes  Boning  ton — Francois  LLuet-Villiers — Samuel 
Owen — Francois  Louis  Thomas  Francia — Andrew  Robert- 
son—  William  Wood — Walter  Henry  Watts — Thomas  Barker 
(of  Bath) — John  Laporte — James  Green — Mary  Green — 
Andrew  Wilson — William  Walker — Thomas  Rowlandson  — 
Henry  Edridge — Luke  Clennell — John  Sell  Cotman — 
George  Vincent. 

We  have  hitherto  dealt  mainly  with  the  careers  of  those 
artists  who  threw  in  their  lot  with  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society,  and  have  thus  left  unnoticed  several  eminent  men  who 
practised  the  art  about  this  date,  but  who  either  exhibited  at 
the  Academy  or  joined  one  of  the  rival  societies  to  which  we  have 
referred. 

Foremost  among  this  group  we  must  place  Richard  Parkes 
Bonington,  who  was  endowed  with  talents  which  his  early 
death  prevented  him  from  exercising  to  their  best  advantage- 
He  was  born  at  Arnold,  near  Nottingham,  October  25,  1801. 
His  father  was  the  governor  of  the  county  gaol,  but  lost  his 
appointment  and  struggled  to  maintain  his  family  by  portrait- 
painting.  In  consequence  of  failing  fortunes  the  family  fled 
to  France  and  made  their  way  to  Paris.  Here  young  Boning- 
ton  studied  in  the  Louvre,  and  becoming  a  pupil  of  the 


142  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Institute,  drew  in  the  atelier  of  Baron  Gros.  It  is  somewhat 
difficult  to  account  for  the  quality  of  his  art  from  this  French 
training,  but  Mr.  Monkhouse  points  out  that  it  was  doubtless 
from  Francia,  who  had  studied  water-colour  painting  in 
England,  and  who  associated  with  Girtin  and  Turner  at  Dr. 
Monro's,  that  he  gained  his  grand  and  impressive  manner  of 
viewing  Nature.  About  1822  he  went  to  Italy,  and  under  the 
influence  of  its  sunny  skies  he  produced  some  wTorks  which 
attracted  much  notice.  On  his  return  to  Paris  his  art  was 
greatly  admired,  and  some  pictures  which  he  sent  to  London 
received  in  this  country  the  cordial  recognition  due  to  their 
high  merit.  His  works  were  now  much  esteemed  in  both 
capitals,  and  he  obtained  many  commissions.  As  early  as 
1822  he  had  exhibited  at  the  Paris  Salon  and  obtained  a 
premium  from  the  Societe  des  Amis  des  Arts.  While  impru- 
dently sketching  in  the  sun  in  Paris  he  brought  on  an  attack 
of  brain  fever  and  subsequent  severe  illness,  upon  which  rapid 
consumption  supervened.  He  came  for  advice  and  treatment 
to  London,  but  without  avail,  and  died  September  23,  1828. 
His  art  was  strikingly  original,  large  and  grand  in  manner 
like  that  of  David  Roberts,  but  his  colouring  was  more  truth- 
ful and  his  masses  of  light  and  shade  were  broad  and  simple. 
It  is  well  said  of  him  in  the  Century  of  Painters,  that  in  his 
work  he  united  the  best  features  of  the  methods  of  execution 
of  the  French  and  English  schools.  His  works  since  his  death 
have  increased  amazingly  in  popular  estimation.  In  1870  one 
of  his  pictures,  Henry  III.  and  the  Ambassador,  was  sold  in 
Paris  for  £3,320,  and  at  the  Novar  sale  two  of  his  pictures 
fetched  £3,500  a-piece.  This  sale  took  place  at  Christie's  in 
1878. 

Francois  Huet- Villi  ers,  the  son  of  an  animal  painter, 


SAMUEL  OWEN — FRANCOIS  LOUIS  THOMAS  FRANCIA.  145 


born  in  Paris,  came  to  England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  French 
revolution  as  a  refugee  and  practised  chiefly  as  a  portrait- 
painter.  He  was  very  successful  in  his  miniatures,  and  was 
perhaps  one  of  the  best  known  men  belonging  to  the  Asso- 
ciated Artists  in  Water-Colours  founded  in  1808.  He 
made  some  drawings  of  Westminster  Abbey,  which  were  after- 
wards published.  He  exhibited  chiefly  at  the  Royal  Academy, 
and  was  appointed  miniature-painter  to  the  Duchess  of  York. 
Villiers  died  July  28,  1813,  aged  41. 

Samuel  Owen,  who  was  born  in  1768,  likewise  became  a 
member  of  the  Society  of  Associated  Artists.  He  appears  to 
have  confined  himself  to  marine  subjects,  which  he  painted  very 
carefully  and  with  a  high  degree  of  finish.  His  works  possess 
also  much  charm  of  colour  ;  the  shipping  is  accurately  drawn 
and  well  introduced.  His  illustrations  to  Bernard  Cooke's  book 
of  The  Thames,  83  in  number,  have  great  merit.  We  represent 
his  art  by  a  study  entitled  Dutch  Vessels  and  Boats,  which 
forms  part  of  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington. 
There  is  a  breezy  motion  about  this  little  picture  which  lovers 
of  the  sea  will  appreciate.  The  wind  fills  the  sails  and  the 
shipping  rides  well  in  a  rough  sea.  Owen  died  at  an  advanced 
age  at  Sunbury  on  Thames,  December  8,  1857. 

Another  French  painter  of  note,  Francois  Louis  Thomas 
Francia,  settled  in  England  and  exhibited  with  the  Associated 
Artists.  He  was  born  at  Calais  in  1772  and  came  to  London 
while  very  young.  We  hear  of  him  towards  the  close  of  the 
century  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Monro.  He  sent  a  picture  to  the 
Royal  Academy  as  early  as  1795,  and  contributed  regularly  to 
the  annual  exhibitions  until  1821.  He  returned  to  France 
about  1816  and  resided  at  Calais  until  his  death  which  took 
place  in  1839.    Francia  did  not  confine  himself  to  marine  sub- 

L 


146 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


jects,  though  he  excelled  in  this  branch  of  art.  He  had  a 
great  feeling  for  colour,  and  his  drawings  possess  much  power 
and  breadth  of  treatment,  resembling  in  some  respects  the 
works  of  Girtin.  He  is  said  to  have  made  many  drawings 
for  the  Duchess  of  York,  having  been  appointed  "  painter  in 
water-colours  "  to  H.R.  Highness.  He  published  in  1810 
Studies  of  Landscapes,  imitated  from  the  originals  by 
L.  Francia,  and  four  Marine  Studies  by  him  were  published  by 
Messrs.  Rod  well  and  Martin,  of  New  Bond  Street,  in  1822. 
He  was  in  considerable  repute  as  a  drawing-master. 

Andrew  Robertson,  the  secretary  of  the  Society  of 
Associated  Artists,  was  the  son  of  a  cabinet-maker  in  Aberdeen, 
and  was  born  October  14,  1777.  He  was  for  two  years  a 
pupil  of  Alexander  Nasmyth,  and  took  his  M.A.  degree  at 
Aberdeen  University  in  1794.  In  1801  he  came  to  London 
and  attracted  the  notice  of  West,  who  sat  to  him  for  his 
portrait.  After  studying  in  the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy 
he  made  great  progress  as  a  portrait-painter  and  gained  many 
distinguished  sitters.  His  miniatures,  which  were  his  best 
works,  were  well  finished  but  were  somewhat  too  powerful  in 
colour.  Robertson  was  an  accomplished  musician,  and  was 
throughout  life  actively  engaged  in  the  management  of  several 
charitable  institutions  with  which  he  was  connected.  He  died 
at  Hampstead,  December  6,  1845. 

William  Wood,  likewise  a  miniature-painter,  took  a  promin- 
ent part  in  the  establishment  of  the  Society  of  Associated  Artists 
in  Water-Colours  and  became  its  first  president.  His  works 
were  greatly  appreciated  for  their  pleasant  colouring  and  fidelity 
of  drawing.  He  is  credited  with  many  improvements  in  the 
stability  of  the  pigments  used  for  painting  on  ivory,  and  he 
was  distinguished  as  a  landscape  gardener*    Wood  published 


WATTS — BARKER — LAPORTE  GREEN. 


147 


in  1808  An  Essay  on  National  and  Sepulchral  Monuments.  He 
died  at  his  house  in  Golden  Square,  November  15,  1809,  at  the 
early  age  of  41. 

Walter  Henry  Watts,  a  third  miniature  painter,  is  found 
in  the  ranks  of  the  Associated  Artists  in  1808,  and  he  after- 
wards contributed  frequently  to  the  Royal  Academy  until 
1830.    We  have  no  record  of  the  date  of  his  death. 

Thomas  Barker  (known  as  Barker  of  Bath)  was  born  in 
1769  near  Pontypool,  Monmouthshire,  and  was  the  son  of  an 
artist  who  excelled  in  his  drawings  of  animals.  He  showed 
in  early  years  a  considerable  talent  for  art,  and  was  enabled 
by  a  friend  to  visit  Italy.  He  contributed  on  his  return  many 
rustic  subjects  to  the  London  galleries,  and  some  of  his  groups 
wTere  reproduced  on  china  and  textile  fabrics  and  became  very 
popular.  One  of  his  pictures,  The  Woodman,  was  sold  for  five 
hundred  guineas.  All  his  principal  works  appear  to  have  been 
painted  in  oil.  He  also  published  some  of  his  sketches  as 
Rustic  Figures  after  Nature,  and  he  drew  on  the  stone  a 
series  of  lithographic  illustrations.  He  died  at  Bath,  "De- 
cember 11,  1847. 

John  Laporte,  who  was  one  of  the  masters  at  the  Military 
Academy  at  Addiscombe,  contributed  many  landscapes  in 
water-colours  to  the  Academy  exhibitions,  and  was  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Associated  Artists.  He  died  in  London  in 
his  78th  year,  July  8,  1839.  He  published  in  1799  Characters 
of  Trees,  probably  for  teaching  purposes,  and  Progressive 
Lessons  sketched  from  Nature.  He  had  a  large  and  fashionable 
connection  as  a  teacher. 

James  Green,  as  also  his  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Green,  belonged  to 

the  Society  of  Associated  Artists  in  Water- Colours.    He  was 

the  son  of  a  builder  at  Leytonstone,  and  was  born  in  1771, 

L  2 


148 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND, 


his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  well-known  engraver,  W.  Byrne, 
was  borne  in  1776.  Green  was  early  distinguished  for  his 
water-colour  portraits,  but  he  subsequently  painted  chiefly  in 
oil,  and  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  died  at  Bath  in 
1834.  Mrs.  Green  was  eminent  as  a  miniature  painter  ;  she 
was  a  pupil  of  Arlaud,  and  also  was  a  frequent  exhibitor  at 
the  Academy.    She  died  in  1845. 

Andrew  Wilson,  born  in  Edinburgh  in  1780,  was  a  pupil 
of  Alexander  Nasmyth.  He  subsequently  proceeded  to  Italy 
where  he  was  employed  to  collect  works  by  the  old  masters. 
He  remained  for  some  years  at  Genoa,  and  on  his  return  to 
London  in  1806  he  took  up  water-colour  painting,  and  ex- 
hibited with  the  Associated  Artists  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
He  afterwards  became  a  master  at  the  Royal  Military  College 
at  Sandhurst,  but  he  resigned  in  1818  and  returned  to  Edin- 
burgh. His  inclinations,  however,  led  him  to  pay  frequent 
visits  to  Italy,  during  which  he  painted  many  fine  pictures 
which  were  agreeably  composed  and  highly  finished  in  trans- 
parent colours.    He  died  after  a  paralytic  stroke  in  1848. 

William  Walker,  born  July  8,  1780,  at  Hackney,  was  a 
pupil  of  Robert  Smirke,  and  in  1813  he  was  sent  to  Greece  to 
make  drawings  of  its  architecture  and  antiquities.  Some  of 
these  were  published  on  his  return.  He  joined  the  Associated 
Artists,  but  subsequently  became  an  associate  exhibitor  of 
the  Water-Col  our  Society,  and  remained  in  this  rank  until 
1846.  His  works  were  generally  marine  subjects,  many  of 
them  taken  from  the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean.  Towards 
the  close  of  his  career  he  painted  in  oil,  and  sent  pictures  to  the 
Royal  Academy.  He  died  at  Sawbridgeworth,  September  2, 
1868. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  trace  the  lives  of  the  less  well-known 


PORTRAIT  OF  GEORGE  MORLAND.    By  Thomas  Rowlandson. 

In  the  Print  Boom,  British  Museum. 


THOMAS  ROWLANDSON. 


151 


painters  of  this  period,  and  the  mere  enumeration  of  their  names 
would  be  wearisome.  Some  of  them,  who  at  first  stood 
aloof  from  the  Water-Colour  Society,  were  willing  to  participate 
in  its  success  when  it  became  securely  established  at  Pall  Mall, 
and  not  a  few  of  them  continued  to  send  their  works  to  the 
Royal  Academy. 

Somewhat  of  a  free  lance  among  the  artists  but  a  notable 
figure  in  his  day  was  Thomas  Rowlandson,  the  caricaturist, 
who  was  the  son  of  a  London  tradesman,  and  was  born  in  1756. 
He  studied  drawing  in  the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy  and 
subsequently  in  Paris,  and  drew  the  figure  with  knowledge  and 
freedom.  In  consequence  of  the  failure  of  his  father's  business 
he  was  compelled  to  maintain  himself  at  an  early  age,  and  but 
for  the  assistance  of  an  aunt  he  would  have  been  reduced  to 
great  straits,  for  he  was  careless  and  dissipated.  On  the  death 
of  this  aunt,  he  inherited  a  considerable  fortune,  which  he 
squandered  in  a  few  years  on  the  gaming  table  and  had  again 
to  take  up  art  for  his  support.  He  now  turned  his  attention 
to  caricature  in  which  he  had  excelled  in  his  school  clays,  and 
for  many  years  worked  incessantly  for  Ackermann  and  other 
publishers.  He  drew  with  great  rapidity  in  a  style  replete 
with  humour  but  not  free  from  vulgarity  and  coarseness.  It 
suited  in  every  respect  the  tastes  of  the  day,  and  his  works 
are  an  accurate  reflex  of  the  tone  of  society  at  the  close  of  the 
last  century.  Rowlandson  was  formed  for  better  things  and 
could  when  he  was  so  minded  draw  with  much  grace  and  refine- 
ment. Some  of  his  early  portraits  are  excellent.  We  have 
chosen  a  slight  sketch  of  George  Morland  which  will  show  the 
freedom  of  his  touch  and  recall  the  features  of  another  unfortu- 
nate but  talented  artist.  Rowlandson  died  in  the  Aclelphi, 
April  22,  1827. 


152 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


The  school  of  caricaturists  at  the  close  of  the  last  century 
had  a  busy  time  of  it  to  supply  the  popular  demand  for  their 
wares,  and  in  those  days,  before  the  advent  of  the  comic  and 
other  illustrated  papers,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  unlimited 
sale  for  the  rudely-coloured  broadsheets  with  etched  outlines, 
designed  by  Bunbury,  Rowlandson,  and  their  contemporaries. 
Many  of  the  productions  were  of  a  very  coarse  and  obscene 
character,  though  the  best  known  men  did  not  generally  lend 
themselves  to  this  class  of  work.  The  art  of  caricature,  even 
at  its  most  debased  period,  had  some  considerable  share  in 
directing  public  opinion  to  the  fine  arts. 

This  seems  a  fitting  place  to  introduce  a  notice  of  Henry 
Edridge,  A.R.A.,  who  was  greatly  distinguished  as  a  minia- 
ture-painter, but  obtained  Academy  honours  late  in  life  chiefly 
in  consequence  of  his  clever  landscapes.  He  was  born  in  1768, 
and  was  the  son  of  a  tradesman  in  Westminster,  who  dying  left 
his  family  in  struggling  circumstances.  At  the  age  of  fourteen, 
Edridge  was  articled  to  Pether,  the  engraver,  and  he  subse- 
quently studied  in  the  schools  of  the  Royal  Academy.  After 
gaining  the  silver  medal  in  1786  he  gave  up  engraving  and 
established  himself  as  a  portrait-painter,  working  at  first  chiefly 
in  black-lead  pencil  or  Indian  ink,  but  ultimately  finishing  the 
face  in  water-colours.  He  had  a  great  fondness  for  landscape 
painting,  which  he  appears  to  have  practised  rather  for  his 
diversion  and  during  absences  from  home.  In  the  Somerset 
House  Gazette  he  is  said  to  have  "occasionally  relaxed  from 
his  ostensible  graphic  labours  in  the  more  amusing  pursuits  of 
landscape."  In  the  course  of  some  visits  to  France  in  1817 
and  1819  he  made  many  picturesque  sketches  which  when 
exhibited  at  the  Academy  in  1820  were  much  noticed  and 
gained  him  the  associateship.    Some  of  these  landscapes  were 


LUKE  CLENNELL 


155 


highly  praised  by  contemporary  writers,  though  such  of  his 
works  as  we  have  seen  are  somewhat  slight  and  sketchy  in 
style.  Edridge  died  soon  after  his  election  on  April  23,  1821, 
chiefly  owing  to  the  shock  produced  by  the  loss  of  his  two 
children.  He  was  buried  by  his  friend,  Dr.  Monro,  at  Bushey. 
Our  illustration  of  Singer's  Farm,  near  Bushey,  which  is  dated 
1811,  is  a  charming  specimen  of  his  simple  and  natural  treat- 
ment of  rustic  subjects.  This  drawing  forms  part  of  the 
British  Museum  collection. 

Luke  Clennell,  the  son  of  a  farmer  near  Morpeth,  was 
born  at  Ulgham,  April  8,  1781.  He  was  at  first  appren- 
ticed to  a  grocer,  but  his  friends  yielding  to  his  love  of  art, 
allowed  him  to  become  a  pupil  of  Bewick,  after  having  been 
for  a  short  time  in  the  interval  with  a  tanner.  He  made 
rapid  progress  in  wood-engraving,  learned  to  draw  correctly 
on  the  wood  and  was  occupied  with  the  designs  of  his  fellow- 
pupil  Johnson.  In  1804  he  came  to  London  and  found  full 
employment  and  carried  off  the  gold  medal  of  the  Society  of 
Arts  for  his  engraving  of  the  Diploma  of  the  Highland  Society 
from  the  designs  of  West.  Having  gained  the  highest  honours 
in  his  art,  he  determined  about  this  time  to  abandon  it  for 
water-colour  painting,  in  which  he  had  already  attained  con- 
siderable proficiency.  He  sent  several  works  to  the  Water- 
Colour  Exhibition,  and  in  1814  was  commissioned  by  the  Earl 
of  Bridgewater  to  paint  a  large  picture  in  commemoration  of 
the  dinner  to  the  Allied  Sovereigns  at  the  Guildhall.  It  is 
thought  that  owing  to  the  worry  and  anxiety  caused  in  col- 
lecting the  portraits  for  the  work,  he  lost  his  reason.  He 
spent  several  years  in  an  asylum  and  lapsed  ultimately  into 
harmless  imbecility.  The  latter  years  of  his  life  were  passed 
among  his  friends  in  Newcastle,  where  he  died  Feb.  9,  1840. 


156 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


He  had  much  talent  as  a  landscape-painter,  and  excelled  in  the 
depiction  of  rustic  scenes  which  are  true  to  nature  and 
pleasant  in  colouring.  We  here  reproduce  a  little  sketch  by 
him  entitled  Newcastle  Ferry,  from  the  Print  Room  of  the 
British  Museum,  probably  one  of  his  early  works. 

In  the  account  of  the  lives  of  the  artists  of  this  period  we 
constantly  find  how  the  best  men  gravitated  to  London ;  but 
there  arose  in  several  provincial  towns  about  this  time  art 
societies,  some  of  which  attained  to  considerable  importance. 
Among  these  local  schools  we  must  assign  a  prominent  place  to 
that  of  Norwich,  which  under  Crome  and  his  pupils  deserves  a 
high  rank  in  the  history  of  English  art.  Crome  was  a  painter 
whose  merit  was  scarcely  understood  during  his  lifetime,  and 
his  reputation  has  increased  rather  than  diminished  by  efflux 
of  time. 

John  Sell  Cotman  was  a  most  distinguished  member  of 
the  Norwich  school,  who  belongs  undoubtedly  to  the  ranks  of 
the  water-colour  painters  though  he  was  a  skilful  etcher  and 
produced  many  fine  pictures  in  oil.  He  was  the  son  of  a  linen- 
draper  at  Norwich,  and  was  born  June  11,  1782.  He  was 
originally  intended  for  his  father's  business,  but  his  inclina- 
tions for  art  proved  too  strong  for  him  and  he  came  to  London 
to  study,  and  soon  joined  the  group  to  which  we  have  so  often 
alluded  who  met  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Monro.  In  his  early 
days  in  London  he  seems  to  have  worked  now  and  then  for 
Britton,  and  in  1800  he  received  the  Honorary  Palette  from 
the  Society  of  Arts  for  a  drawing.  He  returned  to  Norwich 
in  1806  and  in  1807  became  the  Secretary  of  the  Norwich 
Society  of  Artists  founded  by  Crome.  In  1809  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  farmer  at  Felbrigge  near  Cromer,  and  in  1811, 
while  still  living  at  Norwich,  he  became  the  President  of  the 


JOHN  SELL  COTM A.N. 


159 


local  Society.  He  was  then  much  engaged  on  topographical 
work,  and  he  instituted  a  sort  of  circulating  library  of 
drawings  for  the  use  of  his  pupils,  on  a  payment  of  one  guinea 
per  quarter  as  a  subscription.  This  idea  seems  not  unworthy 
of  revival  at  the  present  clay.  He  began  life  as  a  portrait- 
painter,  but  from  and  after  1811  he  seems  to  have  been 
principally  engaged  upon  the  etchings  for  his  numerous  pub- 
lications. He  joined  the  Associated  Artists  in  1810,  but  only 
exhibited  with  them  on  one  occasion.  In  1812  he  removed  to 
Southtown,  a  suburb  of  Yarmouth,  at  the  instance  of  Mr. 
Dawson  Turner,  the  antiquary.  From  this  period  onwards, 
though  he  was  much  in  request  as  a  teacher,  he  produced  his 
famous  Norfolk  etchings  entitled,  Specimens  of  the  Architectural 
Antiquities  of  Norfolk  and  his  Engravings  of  the  Sepulchral 
Brasses  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  In  1817  he  visited  France, 
and  the  outcome  of  this  and  subsequent  journeys  was  The 
Architectural  Antiquities  of  Normandy,  published  in  1822. 
In  1825  he  was  elected  an  associate  exhibitor  of  the  Water- 
Colour  Society,  and  became  a  constant  contributor  to  their 
exhibitions,  still  residing  in  Norfolk.  On  his  appointment 
as  drawing-master  to  King's  College  School,  in  1834,  he 
came  to  London,  where  he  remained  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  1842.  He  was  skilful  in  his  treatment  of  his  sub- 
jects, many  of  which  were  taken  from  the  barges  and  shipping 
of  the  Norfolk,  rivers  and  the  fishing  boats  of  Yarmouth 
where  he  spent  so  much  of  his  early  life,  and  his  landscape 
compositions  were  admirably  arranged.  His  prevailing  colour 
is  apt  to  be  hot,  and  he  was  careless  about  the  completion  of 
his  sketches.  He  frequently  outlined  the  details  with  a  reed 
pen,  and  was  particularly  happy  in  the  choice  of  his  figures 
and  in  the  architectural  features  of  his  drawings.    A  sketch 


160 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


in  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington,  The  Wind- 
mill, will  give  an  excellent  idea  of  the  tones  of  colouring  he 
affected  and  of  the  broad  and  massive  rendering  adopted  in 
his  best  works. 

George  Vincent  was  the  son  of  a  weaver  and  was  born  at 
Norwich,  June  27,  1796.  He  studied  under  "  Old  Crome,"  and 
was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  Norwich  Exhibitions.  He 
came  to  London  about  1818,  where  he  experienced  many  diffi- 
culties and  vicissitudes,  and  though  at  first  working  chiefly  in 
water-colours  and  exhibiting  for  some  years  with  the  old 
Water-Colour  Society,  he  ultimately  painted  chiefly  in  oil.  The 
date  of  his  death  is  uncertain,  but  it  probably  took  place 
about  1831.  He  has  been  claimed  as  the  last  member  of 
the  "  Norwich  School." 


THE  WINDMILL.    By  John  Sell  Cotman. 
In  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


George  Fennell  Robson — James  Stephanoff — Francis  Philip 
Stephanojf — Samuel  Front — Opening  of  the  Gallery  in 
Pall  Mall  Fast — William  Henry  Hunt. 

During  the  interval  that  elapsed  between  the  reconstruction 
of  the  Water-Col  our  Society  and  its  establishment  in  Pall 
Mall,  the  beginning  of  what  we  have  termed  the  later  period 
of  water-colour  painting,  the  ranks  of  its  members  were  re- 
inforced by  several  artists  of  well-deserved  reputation,  and 
taking  these  in  the  order  of  their  election  we  may  now  treat 
of  the  life  and  activity  of  George  Fennell  Robson,  the 
eldest  of  a  family  of  twenty-five  children,  who  was  born 
at  Durham,  October  4,  1788.  Even  in  his  school  days 
he  evinced  a  great  fondness  for  art,  and  at  sixteen  he 
came  to  London  and  earned  his  living  as  an  artist.  In 
1808  the  profits  obtained  by  him  on  his  drawing  entitled 
A  View  of  Durham,  which  he  published,  furnished  the  requisite 
funds  for  a  journey  to  Scotland,  where  he  spent  many  weeks  in 
persevering  study.  His  Scotch  sketches  were,  some  of  them, 
published  by  him  under  the  title  of  Outlines  of  the  Grampians. 
He  exhibited  from  1807  onwards  at  the  Academy,  and  after 
contributing  to  the  Water-Colour  Exhibition  as  an  outsider  in 

vi  2 


164  WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


1813  he  was  elected  a  member  in  the  following  year.  Through- 
out his  life  he  remained  one  of  the  most  active  supporters  of 
the  Society,  of  which  he  was  the  president  in  1820. 

It  was  owing  to  the  action  of  Robson  that  the  rooms  in 
Pall  Mall  were  secured  for  the  exhibitions,  and  he  was  one  of 
the  most  energetic  of  the  members,  sending  no  less  than  653 
drawings  during  the  nineteen  years  following  his  election. 
For  some  time  he  lived  in  the  same  house  with  Hills  and  the 
two  friends  painted  many  of  their  works  in  concert.  During 
a  trip  on  a  fishing  smack  to  the  north  of  England,  in  1833,  he 
was  taken  violently  ill,  landed  at  Stockton-upon-Tees,  and 
died  a  few  days  afterwards  at  his  house  in  Golden  Square, 
aged  only  45.  He  himself  believed  that  his  death  was  due 
to  poison.  The  art  of  Robson  was  founded  on  a  sincere 
admiration  of  the  beauties  of  our  native  scenery,  of  which 
he  was  an  apt  and  truthful  interpreter.  He  excelled  in  his 
delineations  of  mountain  landscapes,  and  caught  in  a  manner 
peculiar  to  himself  the  richness  and  glow  of  luminous  mists 
and  sunshine.  He  was  a  fine  colourist,  and  dying  at  the 
time  he  did  was  a  distinct  loss  to  the  English  school.  He 
was  at  one  time  commissioned  by  Mrs.  Haldimand  to  form  a 
representative  collection  of  water-colour  drawings  for  an  album. 
He  got  together  for  this  purpose  one  hundred  works  which 
were  exhibited  in  the  Gallery,  and  sold  after  that  lady's  death 
for  £1,500  by  Messrs.  Christie.  We  represent  his  work  by  a 
drawing  of  Durham  Cathedral,  the  property  of  Mrs.  R. 
Redgrave.  A  landscape  entitled  Durham — Evening  realized 
£282  105.  in  the  Allnut  sale  in  1886. 

James  Stephanoff,  who  had  for  some  years  contributed  to  the 
exhibition,  became  a  member  of  the  Society  in  1819.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  Russian  painter,  who  settled  in  London  about  1788> 


o 

Xfl 

w 
o 
P3 


ft 

w 

EH 

o 


ft? 


w 

A 
o 


5^ 


JAMES  STEPHANOFF  SAMUEL  PROUT. 


167 


the  date  of  the  birth  of  his  son,  but  shortly  afterwards  com- 
mitted suicide.  Young  Stephanoff,  who  was  one  of  two  artist 
brothers,  between  whom  it  is  not  always  easy  to  distinguish, 
began  at  an  early  age  to  practise  art,  and  from  1810  to  1845 
frequently  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  painted  both 
in  oil  and  water-colours  and  made  several  of  the  drawings,  as 
already  stated,  for  Pyne's  work  on  the  Royal  Palaces.  There 
is  a  large  collection  of  his  drawings  at  South  Kensington, 
representing  the  Coronation  of  George  IY.  He  was  appointed 
Historical  Painter  in  Ordinary  to  H.M.  King  William  IY. 
He  had  a  good  feeling  for  colour  and  a  facile  touch.  His  works 
though  popular  were  not  of  a  high  class.  They  were,  how- 
ever, admirably  adapted  for  coloured  illustrations,  and  in  this 
branch  of  art  he  excelled.  He  produced  a  series  of  historical 
drawings,  The  Field  of  the  Cloth  of  Gold,  perhaps  his  most 
ambitious  work.  After  1860,  owing  to  increasing  infirmity, 
Stephanoff  ceased  to  exhibit,  and  his  death  took  place  at 
Bristol,  in  1874,  at  the  age  of  86.  His  brother,  Francis 
Philip  Stephanoff,  died  at  West  Hanham,  in  Gloucestershire, 
May  15,  1860. 

Next  in  order  of  election  was  Samuel  Prout,  who  was  born 
at  Plymouth,  September  17,  1783.  Early  in  life  he  was 
smitten  with  a  sunstroke,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never 
wholly  recovered.  He  was  encouraged  in  his  art  proclivities 
by  Dr.  Bidlake,  the  master  of  the  Plymouth  Grammar  School, 
where  he  was  educated,  and  had  as  a  fellow  pupil  the  ill- 
fated  B.  R.  Hay  don.  In  1801,  when  he  had  already  gained 
some  insight  into  drawing,  he  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Britton  and  accompanied  him  into  Cornwall.  His  first 
attempts  at  sketching  were  very  discouraging ;  but  on  his 
return  he  sent  Mr.  Britton  some  drawings  which  showed  such 
a  marked  improvement  that  he  received  an  invitation  to 


168 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


London  to  reside  with  Britton,  and  to  help  him  in  his  work. 
Here  he  remained  for  about  two  years,  but  in  1805  he  returned 
to  Plymouth  in  consequence  of  ill-health.  For  some  years  he 
painted  the  scenery  of  his  native  county,  and  in  1810  he  ex- 
hibited with  the  Associated  Artists,  and  subsequently  at  the 
Royal  Academy.  In  1811  we  find  him  back  in  London,  where 
he  resided  at  Stockwell,  and  remained  there  for  a  long  period. 
He  became  an  exhibitor  in  1815  with  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  and  in  1820  was  elected  a  member.  About  this  time 
he  was  much  employed  as  a  teacher,  and  published  some  of 
his  studies.  He  also  put  his  theories  upon  paper,  and  issued 
several  small  treatises  on  landscape  painting.  Rudiments  of 
Landscape,  in  1813,  ^4  New  Dravring  Booh,  in  1819,  and  Easy 
Lessons  in  Landscape  Drawing,  in  1820,  all  of  these  publica- 
tions being  in  the  nature  of  copies  for  students.  Some  of  the 
illustrations  were  soft  ground  etchings  executed  by  himself. 
His  first  works  were  mostly  produced  with  a  view  to  aid  him 
in  his  teaching  as  he  had  a  large  and  fashionable  connec- 
tion. His  earliest  visit  to  the  Continent  took  place  in 
1819,  and  he  found  his  chief  success  in  sketching  the  pic- 
turesque houses  and  market-places  of  Normandy  and  the 
north  of  France.  His  work  with  Britton  had  given  him  a 
taste  for  architectural  studies,  but  though  he  realized  the 
grandeur  and  magnificence  of  the  Gothic  cathedrals  on  the 
Continent  he  did  not  pay  sufficient  attention  to  accuracy  in  his 
details.  Some  of  his  critics  have  objected  to  the  warm  shadows 
he  affected,  which  were  obtained  by  tinting  over  brown.  This 
practice  proved  in  many  of  his  drawings  a  real  defect,  render- 
ing them  foxy  and  untrue  to  nature,  for  the  artist  must 
rely  on  his  shadows  for  the  cool  grey  tints  in  his  work.  Prout's 
sketches  are  chiefly  remarkable  for  the  groups  of  peasants 
and  countrywomen  in  their  bright  costumes,  and  for  the 


SAMUEL  PROUT. 


169 


boldly-drawn  architectural  features,  frequently  put  in  with  a 
broad-pointed  pen.  Poget  points  out  that  Edridge  shares 
with  Prout  the  merit  of  having  brought  into  prominence  the 
picturesque  aspects  of  foreign  buildings-,  but  Edridge  did  not 
visit  France  until  quite  the  end  of  his  career,  and  he  made  his 
fame,  as  we  have  seen,  as  a  miniature  painter.  Later  in  life 
Prout  extended  his  tours  to  Germany  and  Italy,  and  published 
many  of  his  sketches  in  lithography.  For  a  while  the  art 
of  Prout  was  in  great  request  in  the  schools  of  this  country 
for  copies,  and  his  free  and  graceful  studies  of  continental 
buildings  doubtless  fostered  the  love  of  our  countrymen  for 
foreign  travel.  In  early  life  he  painted  marine  subjects  with 
considerable  power,  and  though  his  success  in  depicting  the 
scenery  he  observed  abroad  turned  his  thoughts  into  another 
channel,  he  from  time  to  time  produced  some  fine  sea  pictures. 
He  was  highly  esteemed  both  as  artist  and  teacher  in  his  clay, 
and  his  works  will  not  fail  to  charm  future  generations  by 
their  originality  and  the  freedom  of  their  execution.  Towards 
the  close  of  his  career,  Prout's  health  failed,  and  he  had  for  a 
time  to  reside  at  Hastings.  However,  in  1845,  he  was  back 
again  in  London  painting  small  works,  rather,  we  fear,  as 
pot-boilers,  for  his  charge  to  dealers  varied  from  five  to  ten 
guineas.  Poor  Prout,  after  long  years  of  suffering,  died  of 
apoplexy  in  February,  1852,  at  the  age  of  68.  His  drawings 
were  sold  at  Sotheby  &  Wilkinson's  later  in  the  same  year,  and 
realized  £1,788.  One  of  his  best  works,  the  Nuremburg,  was 
sold  in  1868  for  £1,002  15s.  Poget  tells  us  that  Prout  "  had 
a  regular  mechanical  system  in  preparing  his  drawings,  laying 
them  in  in  sepia  or  brown  and  grey,  the  outlines  gone  over 
with  a  pen,  in  which  a  warm  brown  colour  was  used.  His 
system  was  evidently  founded  on  the  practice  of  the  early 
water-colour  painters,  only  substituting  brown  for  the  Indian 


170 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


ink  used  by  the  early  draughtsmen  in  the  foregrounds  of  their 
drawings.  His  brown  and  grey  he  kept  in  bottles  in  a  liquid 
state."  We  are  enabled  to  represent  him  by  a  most  charac- 
teristic drawing  from  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Ken- 
sington, the  Porch  of  Ratisbon  Cathedral,  the  gift  of  Mrs. 
Ellison — a  grand  example  of  Gothic  architecture  filled  with 
devotional  figures,  while  in  the  market-place  beyond  we  catch 
a  glimpse  of  the  busy  life  of  a  German  city,  drawn  in  his 
happiest  style.  The  pen  has  been  freely  used  in  the  outlines, 
and  the  colouring  is  rich  and  effective. 

We  have  now  followed  the  fortunes  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  and  chronicled  the  accessions  to  its  ranks  down  to  the 
time  of  the  removal  to  Pall  Mall.  Shortly  before  this  period 
the  gallery  was  closed  to  all  works  not  painted  in  water- 
colours,  and  the  members  withdrew  the  privilege  hitherto 
conceded  to  outsiders  of  exhibiting  with  the  Society.  The 
wisdom  of  this  change  soon  became  apparent ;  their  exhibition 
gained  in  popularity,  and  several  of  their  earlier  members 
returned  to  them,  notably  Hills,  De  Wint,  and  Havell.  Yery 
shortly  after  they  took  possession  of  their  new  gallery, 
which  ushers  in  what  we  have  termed  the  later  period 
of  water-colour  painting,  they  acquired  in  the  person  of 
William  Henry  Hunt  a  strong  addition  to  their  ranks.  Hunt 
was  born  in  Old  Belton  Street,  now  Endell  Street,  Long  Acre, 
in  1790.  His  father  was  a  tinplate  worker,  and  he  is  said  to 
have  been  strongly  averse  to  the  boy's  desire  to  study  art,  but 
he  ultimately  gave  way  and  bound  his  son  in  apprenticeship  to 
John  Yarley.  Mixing  with  the  rising  artists  in  Yarley's  house, 
and  availing  himself  of  the  hospitality  of  Dr.  Monro,  Hunt 
made  rapid  progress,  and  at  seventeen  years  of  age  became 
an  exhibitor  at  the  Academy.  While  staying  with  Dr.  Monro 
near  Bushey,  he  became  known  to  the  Earl  of  Essex  and  was 


THE  PORCH,  RATISBON  CATHEDRAL.    By  Samuel  Prout. 

In  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 


W.   H.   HUNT.  173 


invited  by  him  to  paint  at  Cashiobury  Park.  At  this  date 
young  Hunt  was  working  chiefly  in  oil,  and  though  as  early  as 
1814  he  was  an  exhibitor  at  the  gallery  of  the  Water-Colour 
Society,  it  is  most  likely  that  the  pictures  then  contributed  by 
him  were  in  oil.  We  learn  from  Roget  that  when  Hunt  first 
became  a  candidate  for  election  into  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1823  he  was  rejected,  and  that  it  was  due  to  the  per- 
suasion of  Robson  that  he  was  induced  to  try  a  second  time, 
when  he  was  successful.  From  the  date  of  his  election  in  1824 
until  his  death  he  was  a  constant  exhibitor,  sending  as  one  of 
his  latest  drawings  his  own  portrait.  In  his  earlier  years  he 
contributed  landscape  subjects  only,  but  it  was  as  a  painter  of 
rustic  figures  that  he  first  became  known  among  his  brethren 
of  the  Water-Colour  Society.  He  affected  studies  of  poachers, 
gardeners,  and  gamekeepers,  and  later — drawings  of  game, 
flowers,  and  fruit.  Some  of  the  most  successful  of  the  works  of 
his  earlier  period  were  candle-light  effects.  He  was  very  fond 
of  the  seaside  and  of  subjects  suggested  there,  and  for  thirty 
years  in  succession  he  is  said  to  have  visited  Hastings. 
Roget  describes  his  maturer  works  as  those  in  which  the 
"  humorous  element  became  conspicuous,"  his  school-boy 
studies,  &c.  Towards  the  close  of  his  career  he  was 
incessantly  engaged  upon  smaller  and  more  minute  drawings 
of  flowers,  fruit,  and  birds.  For  many  years  he  resided  at 
Hastings,  but  he  died  in  London  of  a  fit  of  apoplexy  in  1864. 

The  works  of  Hunt  illustrate  a  remarkable  change  in  the 
practice  of  water-colour  painting— the  return  to  the  use  of 
body  colour  and  opaque  pigments.  We  have  seen  that  some 
of  the  most  eminent  painters  of  the  early  part  of  the  century 
eschewed  the  use  of  white,  and  obtained  all  their  effects  by 
means  of  transparent  colour,  making  the  white  ground  when 
required  serve  for  the  high  lights.    Hunt  began  to  paint  when 


174 


WATER  COLOUR  PATNTTNO   TN  ENGLAND. 


the  use  of  transparent  colours  was  still  in  full  force,  but  he 
soon  found  the  facilities  in  execution  afforded  by  semi-opaque 
pigments,  and  in  later  life  he  relied  upon  them  more  and  more 
for  certain  classes  of  effects,  notably  the  bloom  on  his  fruit 
and  the  bright  touches  in  his  flower  subjects.  He  combined 
the  tints  of  transparent  and  opaque  colour  with  great  delicacy 
and  skill,  and  he  often  made  use  of  the  knife  with  consummate 
ability.  His  best  works  are  wonderful  examples  of  technical 
executive  power,  and  it  has  been  observed  of  him  in  the  Century 
of  Painters,  that  "even  his  objects  of  still  life  were  raised  almost 
to  the  dignity  of  fine  art  by  the  taste  with  which  he  rendered 
them."  He  drew  the  figure  with  much  success,  and  his  rustic 
groups  were  humorous  and  well  chosen.  We  represent  his  art 
by  a  work  in  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington, 
The  Monk,  which  serves  as  our  frontispiece,  a  finely  modelled 
head  in  which  body  colour  is  freely  used,  though  the  grey  hairs 
have  been  largely  produced  by  the  point  of  the  penknife. 

We  have  here  regarded  Hunt  as  the  exponent  of  the  changed 
methods  of  painting  which  have  sprung  up  among  the  artists 
of  the  modern  school,  and  few  will  deny  that  the  influence  of 
his  example  was  of  paramount  importance  in  this  respect. 
White  was  doubtless  at  first  used,  as  De  Wint  used  it,  for 
touches  of  high  light,  but  when  the  artist  was  placed  in  posses- 
sion of  a  white  pigment  upon  which  he  could  rely,  and  which 
would  mix  well  with  his  other  colours,  he  used  it  in  his 
skies,  in  his  distances  to  give  the  sense  of  mist  and  air  tint, 
in  his  figures  and  cattle,  when  added  subsequently  as  these 
accessories  so  often  are,  and  wherever  he  required  sharp  and 
well-defined  forms  in  his  work.  As  we  shall  see  subsequently 
the  process  of  working  in  opaque  colours  in  the  hands  of  certain 
artists  of  recent  times  led  to  the  use  of  coloured  paper  and 
to  the  almost  total  suppression  of  transparent  colours. 


CHAPTER  XII. 


The  New  Society  of  Painters  in  Water -Colours  —The  Dudley 
Gallery — William  Andrews  Nesfield  —  Henry  Gastineau — 
Francis  Oliver  Finch- — John  Masey  Wright  —  John 
Whichelo—Penry  Williams — Alexander  Chisholm—  Richard 
Hamilton  Essex — John  Britton,  F.S.A. — Charles  Wild — 
James  Sargant  Storer — Henry  Shaw,  F.S.A. — David 
Roberts,  R.A. 

The  rise  and  progress  of  the  new  school,  the  success  of  many 
of  the  leading  water-colour  painters  as  teachers,  and  the  great 
stimulus  that  was  given  about  this  time  to  art  work  generally, 
speedily  led  to  the  demand  for  increased  facilities  for  exhibition. 
For  many  years  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  as  we  shall  in 
future  term  the  original  body,  had  admitted  outsiders  to  their 
gallery,  and  this  privilege  was  conferred  annually  on  some  fifty 
or  sixty  artists.  After  1821  they  restricted  their  exhibition, 
as  we  have  already  mentioned,  to  the  works  of  their  own 
members.  The  available  space  at  the  Eoyal  Academy  for 
water-colour  drawings  still  remained  a  very  limited  one,  and 
as  the  artists  outside  the  ranks  of  the  society  grew  in  numbers 
and  gained  in  influence,  a  time  arrived  when  the  provision 
of  another  gallery  seemed  to  have  become  a  matter  of  impera- 


176 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


tive  necessity.  A  meeting  of  artists  was  convened  and  steps 
were  taken  to  form  a  new  society,  "  not  necessarily,"  as  we 
are  told,  "in  rivalry  and  opposition  to  the  existing  body,  but 
in  the  interests  of  their  own  art,  as  essential  to  the  sale  of 
their  pictures,  and  indeed  in  self  defence." 

The  outcome  of  this  movement  was  the  establishment 
of  the  New  Society  of  Water-Colour  Painters,  which  w^as 
founded  in  1831,  and  held  its  first  exhibition  in  Exeter 
Hall,  Strand,  in  the  following  year.  The  chief  difficulty  en- 
countered in  launching  this  new  scheme  seems  to  have  been 
the  financial  one.  This  was  temporarily  met  by  levying  a 
contribution  from  each  member,  and  the  amount  thus  provided, 
aided  by  some  donations  and  annual  subscriptions,  proved 
sufficient  for  the  very  modest  requirements  of  the  undertaking. 
It  was  also  found  possible  to  raise  by  the  same  means  a  small 
prize  fund,  and  this  proved  a  valuable  incentive  in  attracting 
works  to  their  gallery. 

In  1833,  in  order  probably  to  avoid  any  appearance  of 
clashing  with  the  original  society,  the  title  of  the  younger 
body  was  altered  to  "  The  Associated  Painters  in  Water- 
Colours."  In  the  first  instance  the  gallery  was  freely  opened 
to  outsiders,  subject  to  the  verdict  of  a  committee  of  selection. 
But  this  plan  had  its  drawbacks,  for  the  non-members,  while 
they  enjoyed  all  the  advantages  of  the  exhibition,  took  no 
share  in  the  pecuniary  liabilities,  and  as  early  as  1834  the 
expenditure  exceeded  the  receipts.  In  the  following  year 
therefore  the  society  determined  to  receive  only  the  works  of 
its  own  members  with  the  addition  of  four  outsiders,  whom 
they  elected  as  "Exhibitors."  A  move  was  made  in  1838  to 
No.  38  Pall  Mall,  and  here  in  time  the  society  became  firmly 
established  and  erected  for  itself  the  excellent  gallery  which 


177 


it  occupied  until  1883,  when  the  amalgamation  with  the 
Dudley  Gallery  took  place. 

The  number  of  members,  which  on  the  reconstruction  of  the 
society  in  1835  was  fixed  at  twenty-eight,  was  gradually 
increased  until  in  1846  they  reached  fifty,  and  ten  years  later 
the  number  was  fifty  eight.  At  first  the  new  society  had  an 
uphill  fight  and  incurred  many  losses.  These  they  wisely 
determined  to  make  good  before  any  accruing  profits  were 
divided.  The  decision  gave  offence  to  some  of  the  foundation 
members,  who  seceded  from  the  body,  and  the  load  of  debt 
doubtless  caused  certain  of  the  rising  members  of  the  profession 
to  stand  aloof  from  them.  In  1847  as  the  results  of  dissensions 
respecting  the  management  of  the  Society,  some  of  the  more  in- 
fluential of  the  members,  including  Dodgson,  Duncan,  J enkins, 
and  Topham  seceded,  and  in  the  course  of  the  next  few  years 
they  were  received  into  the  older  society.  From  time  to  time 
other  of  the  members  migrated  in  a  similar  way,  and  Roget 
enumerates  no  less  than  fifteen  names  of  those  who  were 
transferred  from  the  New  to  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society. 

Certain  minor  changes  in  the  constitution  of  the  New-Water- 
Colour  Society  were  made  in  1857.  It  was  then  divided  into 
thirty  members,  ten  lady  members,  and  eighteen  associates,  and 
thus  it  continued  until  1863,  when  it  was  re-named  "  The  Insti- 
tute of  Painters  in  Water-Colours."  The  constitution  was  then 
again  re-modelled.  The  number  of  members  was  at  that  time 
forty-four;  but  the  "Associates,"  from  which  body  alone  the 
members  were  to  be  selected,  were  not  limited  as  to  number. 
The  funds  were  vested  only  in  the  members  :  these  funds 
arose  from  the  amount  received  for  admission  to  the  exhibi- 
tions and  from  the  sale  of  catalogues  and  of  exhibited  works, 
a  commission  of  five  per  cent,  on  the  value  being  charged  to 

N 


178 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


members,  and  ten  per  cent,  to  associates ;  the  latter  have  no 
share  in  the  responsibilities  of  the  society.  In  order  to  provide 
for  out- standing  liabilities  any  member  or  associate  desiring 
to  withdraw  from  the  body  incurs  a  fine  of  £2. 

The  number  of  members  and  associates  did  not  remain  sta- 
tionary; in  1876  there  were  forty-nine  members,  eight  honorary 
members,  thirteen  lady  members,  and  sixteen  associates,  and 
in  1884,  after  absorbing  in  the  previous  year  the  Dudley 
Gallery,  the  numbers  were  ninety  one  members,  ten  honorary 
members,  and  nine  lady  members  \  the  class  of  associates  having 
disappeared  in  1880.  In  the  year  1883  the  Gallery  was  thrown 
open  to  all  workers  in  water-colours  outside  their  own  member- 
ship and  the  experiment  was  a  great  success  as  upwards  of 
500  works  by  non-members  were  hung.  For  a  long  series  of 
years  the  exhibitions  of  the  New  Society  have  enjoyed  public 
favour,  and  the  Royal  Institute  shares  with  the  older  body  the 
prestige  due  to  the  high  attainments  of  its  members. 

The  two  Water-Colour  Societies,  though  they  might  suffice  to 
provide  exhibiting  space  for  the  senior  members  of  the  pro- 
fession, did  not  encourage  rising  talent,  or  enable  the  younger 
men  to  come  before  the  public,  and  this  led  eventually  to  the 
establishment  of  yet  another  body,  formed  for  the  exhibition 
of  water-colour  art.  A  committee  was  nominated  of  artists 
and  amateurs  in  1864,  who  were  supported  by  a  list  of 
guarantors,  and  who  opened  a  so-called  "  General  Exhibition 
of  Water-Colour  Paintings  "  in  the  Egyptian  Hall,  Piccadilly, 
in  the  spring  of  1865.  The  aims  of  this  body,  as  stated  in 
their  prospectus,  were  declared  to  be  "  to  establish  a  gallery 
which,  while  exclusively  devoted  to  drawings  in  distinction 
from  oil  paintings,  should  not,  in  its  use  by  exhibitors,  involve 
membership  of  a  society."    This  gallery  supplied  a  recognized 


ROYAL   INSTITUTE   OF   PAINTERS   IN   WATER  COLOURS.  179 


want,  and  from  the  very  outset  it  enjoyed  a  fair  measure  of 
success.  It  was  at  first  under  the  management  of  a  Committee 
of  twenty-six  artists  and  amateurs,  and  no  less  than  1,700 
works  were  sent  up  in  answer  to  the  invitation  to  contribute. 
Of  these  579  were  selected  which  proved  to  be  of  a  class  which 
fully  justified  the  promoters  in  their  attempt  to  bring  together 
the  display.  Under  the  title  of  the  "  Dudley  Society "  its 
annual  exhibitions  were  continued  with  increasing  popularity 
until  1883,  when,  as  we  have  seen,  an  amalgamation  with 
the  New  Water-Colour  Society  took  place,  and  the  two  bodies 
moved  to  the  fine  gallery  erected  near  St.  James's  Church  in 
Piccadilly,  called  the  Prince's  Hall,  the  title  of  the  joint  un- 
dertaking being  henceforth  the  Royal  Institute  of  Painters 
in  Water-Colours.  Having  taken  possession  of  their  spacious 
premises  and  thrown  open  their  Exhibition  to  outsiders,  the 
Royal  Institute  added  to  their  usefulness  by  the  establish- 
ment in  1884  of  a  free  school  for  water-colour  painting,  at 
which  the  members  in  turn  give  their  services  gratuitously 
as  teachers. 

For  many  years  past  exhibitions  have  been  on  the  increase ; 
not  only  do  we  have  constantly  recurring  international 
exhibitions  in  one  country  and  another,  in  many  of  which  our 
English  artists  take  an  important  and  well- recognized  position, 
but  many  of  the  chief  provincial  towns,  in  their  permanent 
galleries  and  local  displays,  hold  out  strong  inducements  to 
artistic  participation.  It  would  be  almost  impossible  in  such 
a  work  as  this  to  record  a  tithe  of  these  exhibitions ;  and 
having  thus  briefly  described  the  establishment  of  the  principal 
societies  founded  for  the  furtherance  of  water-colour  art,  we 
may  now  devote  our  remaining  chapters  to  a  short  account  of 
the  lives  and  work  of  those  distinguished  members  of  the  Old 

n  2 


180 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


and  the  New  Societies  who  have  passed  away,  leaving  a  small 
space  in  conclusion  for  a  notice  of  the  water  colour  drawings  in 
our  national  collections,  and  for  the  consideration  of  the  recent 
report  on  the  permanence  of  water-colour  paintings,  a  subject 
which  lately  has  again  received  a  large  share  of  public  attention. 

The  reconstitution  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1821 
attracted  many  new  members  to  its  ranks,  some  of  the  more 
eminent  of  whom  we  have  already  noticed,  and  though  we  do 
not  propose  to  enumerate  the  members  in  the  strict  order  of 
their  election,  there  was  a  group  of  men  who  joined  the  society 
about  this  time  to  which  we  may  now  very  briefly  refer.  William 
Andrews  Nesfield,  son  of  the  rector  of  Brancepeth,  Durham, 
wThere  he  was  born  in  1793,  was  educated  at  Winchester  and 
Trinity  College,  Cambridge.  He  was  destined  for  a  military 
career,  and  became  a  cadet  at  Woolwich  in  1809.  His  first  regi- 
ment was  the  old  95th,  now  the  Eifle  Brigade,  but  after  taking 
part  in  the  operations  in  the  Pyrenees  and  being  present  at  St. 
Jean  de  Luz,  he  exchanged  into  the  89th,  then  stationed  in 
Canada,  where  he  also  saw  active  service  and  became  junior 
A.D.C.  to  Sir  Gordon  Drummond.  On  the  conclusion  of  the 
general  peace  he  retired  on  half-pay,  and  turned  his  attention 
to  painting,  for  which  he  had  already  shown  considerable  taste. 
In  1823  he  was  elected  an  associate  exhibitor,  and  only  three 
months  later  a  member  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  of 
which  he  remained  for  upwards  of  thirty  years  a  prominent  sup- 
porter, contributing  many  excellent  Swiss  and  Italian  scenes  to 
this  exhibition.  His  drawings  of  landscapes  and  waterfalls 
were  greatly  admired,  and  Buskin  says  of  him  in  Modern 
Painters — "  He  has  shown  extraordinary  feeling  both  for  the 
colour  and  the  spirituality  of  a  great  waterfall;  exquisitely 
delicate  in  his  management  of  the  changeful  veil  of  spray  or 


W.   A.   NESFIELD — H.  GASTINEAU. 


181 


mist,  just  in  his  curves  and  contours,  and  rich  in  colour,  if  he 
would  remember  that  in  all  such  scenes  there  is  much  gloom 
as  well  as  much  splendour,  and  relieve  the  lustre  of  his 
attractive  passages  of  colour  with  more  definite  and  prevalent 
greys,  and  give  a  little  more  substance  to  parts  of  his  picture 
unaffected  by  spray,  his  work  would  be  nearly  perfect.  His 
seas  are  also  most  instructive,  a  little  confused  in  chiaroscuro, 
but  refined  in  form  and  admirable  in  colour."  Nesfield  retired 
from  the  society  in  1852,  and  took  up  landscape-gardening  as 
his  profession.  In  this  capacity  he  was  constantly  consulted  in 
the  improvement  and  alteration  of  the  London  parks  and  Kew 
Gardens,  and  he  acquired  an  extensive  practice.  He  likewise 
planned  the  recently-demolished  Italian  gardens  of  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society  at  South  Kensington.  He  died  March  2, 
1881,  in  his  eighty-eighth  year. 

Henry  Gastineau,  born  1793,  studied  at  the  schools  of  the 
Royal  Academy,  and  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society  in  1821,  gaining  his  membership  in  1823. 
He  was  in  his  youth  placed  under  an  engraver  and  at  first 
painted  in  oils.  In  1822  he  furnished  eighteen  drawings  for  a 
little  book,  entitled  Excursions  in  the  County  of  Kent,  He 
was  a  prolific  exhibitor,  sending  on  an  average  twenty-five 
works  annually  to  the  gallery  of  the  Water-Colour  Society. 
Throughout  life  he  was  constantly  engaged  in  teaching.  He  de- 
lighted in  sketching  wild  and  romantic  scenery,  both  in  this 
country  and  abroad  ;  the  rocky  beds  of  rivers  with  falling  water 
and  rushing  streams  were  subjects  which  he  painted  with  a 
true  sense  of  colour,  and  in  which  he  excelled.  He  was  fond 
also  of  painting  moonlights.  He  contributed  the  landscape 
illustrations  for  a  variety  of  works.  Gastineau' s  death  took 
place  in  Camberwell,  January  17,  1876.    He  was  then  the 


182 


WATER-COLOUR  TAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


oldest  surviving  member  of  the  Water  Colour  Society,  to  whose 
gallery  he  had  contributed  for  fifty-eight  years  in  succession. 

Francis  Oliver  Finch,  born  November  22,  1802,  was  the 
son  of  a  merchant  in  Cheapside.  He  would  seem  to  have 
passed  his  boyhood  near  Aylesbury,  and  showing  a  taste  for 
art  he  was  placed  under  John  Yarley,  where  he  was  the  fellow 
pupil  of  Linnell,  Hunt,  and  Mulready.  He  first  attempted  oil- 
paiutiog  and  produced  a  few  portraits,  but  subsequently,  on  his 
election  to  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  (as  associate  in  1822 
and  in  1827  as  member),  he  worked  chiefly  in  water-colours. 
He  found  but  little  encouragement  in  his  art,  and  had  to 
depend  largely  upon  teaching.  The  landscapes  of  Finch  were 
mainly  compositions  of  an  elaborate  character,  rather  in  the 
style  of.  Barret  with  sumptuous  architecture,  palaces,  and 
stately  gardens.  He  frequently  painted  twilight  and  moon- 
light scenes  in  the  pure  transparent  style.  He  was  a  survival 
of  an  earlier  art  period.  Samuel  Palmer,  his  life-long  friend  and 
admirer  called  him  "  The  last  representative  of  the  old  school 
of  landscape  painting  in  water-colours. "  He  had  a  poetical 
mind,  and  published  a  collection  of  sonnets  entitled  An 
Artist's  Dream.  At  an  early  period  in  his  career  he  became 
a  convert  to  the  doctrines  of  Swedenborg  and  his  religious 
opinions  gave  a  strong  tinge  to  his  after  life.  He  died  after 
a  long  illness,  August  27,  1862. 

John  Masey  Wright  was  born  in  London  in  1777  ;  he  was 
chiefly  known  as  a  book  illustrator  and  first  exhibited  at  the 
Eoyal  Academy  in  1817.  He  made  the  acquaintance  of 
Thomas  Edward  Barker  and  aided  him  with  his  panorama  in 
Leicester  Square,  and  he  was  sometimes  employed  in  painting 
scenery  for  the  theatres.  Boget  tells  us  that  in  1820  he  was 
earning  £8  per  week  at  the  Panorama  and  £6  per  week  at 


PENRY  WILLIAMS  ALEXANDER  CTITSHOLM. 


183 


His  Majesty's  Theatre.  He  had  a  good  connection  as  a 
teacher.  Wright  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1824  and  he  was  elected  a  member  in  the  same 
year.  In  his  old  age  he  fell  into  distressed  circumstances  and 
he  wTas  granted  an  annuity  by  the  Royal  Academy.  He  died 
in  May,  1866,  at  the  age  of  89.  He  must  not  be  confounded 
with  J.  W.  Wright  also  a  member  of  the  Old  Water- Colour 
Society  whom  he  survived  for  many  years. 

Among  those  artists  who  joined  the  Water-Colour  Society 
in  its  early  days  as  associates  and  never  attained  full  member- 
ship we  must  not  omit  John  Whichelo,  who  was  elected  in 
1823.  We  have  no  record  of  the  year  of  his  birth  but  he  died 
in  1865.  He  is  said  to  have  been  employed  at  one  time  in 
making  drawings  at  five  shillings  apiece  to  illustrate  Pennant's 
Tours.  At  first  his  contributions  to  the  Society's  gallery  were 
mainly  sea-pictures,  but  later  in  life  he  painted  many  land- 
scapes chiefly  of  English  scenery.  His  drawings  were  sold  at 
Christie's  in  1866. 

Penry  Williams,  who,  during  his  long  residence  at  Rome, 
made  a  great  reputation  by  his  bright  and  clever  sketches  of 
its  scenery  and  public  edifices,  became  an  associate  in  1828  of 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  but  did  not  long  remain  in  con- 
nection with  that  body.  He  died  in  1885  aged  about  87. 
His  works  are  skilfully  composed  and  attractive  in  point  of 
colour,  but  are  somewhat  mannered  and  conventional. 

Alexander  Chisholm,  born  at  Elgin  about  1792,  was  an 
associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  for  nearly  twenty 
years  but  never  became  a  member.  His  subject  pictures  were 
very  popular  and  he  worked  frequently  for  the  annuals.  He 
died  after  a  long  illness  at  Rothesay  in  1847. 

Richard  Hamilton  Essex  was  a  frequent  exhibitor  at  the 
Old  Water-Colour  Society  from  the  date  of  his  associateship  in 


184 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


1823  ;  he  never  passed  to  full  membership.  He  depicted  our 
ancient  Gothic  buildings  with  great  skill,  and  chose  his  subjects 
from  the  church  architecture  of  this  country  and  the  Continent. 
He  exhibited  also  at  the  Royal  Academy  and  at  Suffolk  Street 
and  made  a  series  of  drawings  of  the  architecture  and  stained 
glass  of  the  Temple  Church,  published  in  1845  by  Weale. 
He  died  in  1855  at  Bow  in  his  fifty-third  year. 

We  may  here  pause  to  notice  a  group  of  artists  who,  like 
Essex,  laboured  in  the  field  of  antiquarian  research,  and  kept 
alive  the  traditions  of  the  topographers  long  after  their  methods 
had  been  superseded  by  the  improved  processes  of  water-colour 
painting. 

John  Britton,  F.S.A.,  was  born  at  Kington  St.  Michael, 
Wilts,  in  1771,  and  coming  to  London  in  1787,  found  employ- 
ment as  cellarman  in  a  tavern,  and  afterwards  worked  with  a 
hop-factor.  He  seems  to  have  been  fond  of  literary  pursuits, 
and  after  spending  some  time  in  a  printing  office,  was  engaged 
by  Brayley  to  assist  him  with  his  publications.  In  1799  he 
first  exhibited  architectural  drawings  at  the  Academy,  and 
from  this  time  he  devoted  all  his  energies  to  antiquarian 
research.  In  1805  he  commenced  his  Architectural  Antiquities 
of  Great  Britain,  and  in  1814  his  Cathedral  Antiquities  of 
England.  His  published  works  were  extremely  numerous  and 
important,  and  the  close  of  his  long  career  found  him  still 
engaged  upon  his  autobiography.  The  writings  and  the 
illustrated  works  of  this  author  had  an  undoubted  influence 
on  the  architecture  of  the  Gothic  revival.  Eastlake  says  of 
him,  "  He  helped,  and  successfully  helped,  to  secure  for 
mediaeval  remains  that  kind  of  interest  which  a  sense  of  the 
picturesque  and  a  respect  for  historical  associations  are  most 
likely  to  create."  He  died  in  London,  January  1st,  1857. 
Charles  Wild,  born  in  London  in  1781,  was  another  artist 


HENRY  SHAW —  DAVID  ROBERTS. 


185 


who  devoted  himself  to  architecture,  and  after  being  for  many- 
years  an  associate  exhibitor  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society, 
he  was  in  1820  elected  a  member,  and  subsequently  filled 
the  offices  of  secretary  and  treasurer.  He  retired  from 
the  Society  in  1833.  He  drew  with  great  refinement  all 
the  principal  cathedrals  of  this  country,  and  travelled  much 
on  the  Continent  to  sketch  the  chief  foreign  buildings, 
which  sketches  he  afterwards  published.  His  last  work,  issued 
in  1837,  was  entitled  Select  Examples  of  Architectural  Grandeur 
in  Belgium,  Germany,  and  France.  For  the  latter  part  of  his 
life  he  was  afflicted  with  loss  of  sight.  He  died  in  London, 
August  4,  1835. 

James  Sargant  Storer,  born  in  1781,  likewise  studied  with 
great  success  the  ancient  architecture  of  this  country,  and 
engraved  many  of  his  own  drawings.  He  resided  chiefly  at 
Cambridge.  In  1814  he  commenced  his  History  and  Antiquities 
of  British  Cathedrals,  and  he  also  wrote  on  the  Principles  of 
Gothic  Architecture.    He  died  in  London,  December  23,  1853. 

Henry  Shaw,  F.S.A.,  born  in  London,  July  4th,  1800, 
was  one  of  the  fellow- workers  of  Britton  who  did  much  to 
further  the  study  of  ancient  buildings,  and  devoted  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  to  the  production  of  an  unrivalled  series  of 
illuminated  works.  He  was  a  skilful  artist,  and  had  a  true 
sense  of  colour,  and  though  latterly  he  did  not  attempt  the 
higher  walks  of  his  profession,  he  accomplished  a  vast  amount 
of  useful  and  meritorious  work.    He  died  June  12,  1873. 

With  a  more  powerful  sense  of  its  artistic  capabilities,  the 
architecture  of  this  country  and  of  the  Continent  was  rendered 
by  David  Roberts,  R.A.,  who  was  born  in  humble  circum- 
stances at  Stockbridge,  near  Edinburgh,  October  2,  1796. 
After  having  been  apprenticed  to  a  house-painter  at  Edinburgh, 
he  worked  as  a  scene-painter,  and  in  1822  came  to  London  and 


186 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


gained  employment  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  where  he  remained 
for  many  years.  In  1826  he  first  exhibited  at  the  Eoyal 
Academy,  of  which  he  was  elected  an  associate  in  1839,  and 
a  fnll  member  in  1841.  He  travelled  much  in  foreign  lands 
in  pursuit  of  his  art,  and  produced  many  finely  painted  Eastern 
scenes,  some  of  which  were  published  by  him.  He  worked 
wTith  equal  skill  in  oil  and  water-colours.  His  treatment  was 
broad  and  bold,  and  thoroughly  scenic.  He  cared  little  for 
realistic  imitation,  and  his  colouring,  though  it  charms  us,  can 
scarcely  be  considered  true  to  nature.  The  authors  of  the 
Century  of  Painters  have  thus  well  described  his  art  :  "  He 
had  no  sympathy  with  the  imitative  or  realistic  school ;  in  all 
the  hundreds  of  sketches  by  his  hand  there  is  not  one  that 
indicates  an  attempt  at  individualized  realization.  Broad, 
simple,  and  very  conventional,  with  the  details  suggested 
rather  than  given,  his  pictures  charm  us  by  their  onceness, 
their  direct  appeal  to  the  eye,  and  the  extreme  ease  with 
which  they  are  executed.  The  colour  is  agreeable  though 
not  like  nature,  but  generalized  to  what  he  thought  best 
suited  for  the  scenic  display  of  the  class  of  subjects  he 
loved  to  paint ;  so  that  whether  his  buildings  are  on  the 
banks  of  the  Clyde  or  the  Thames,  the  Nile  or  the  Tiber, 
there  is  a  sameness  of  tint  and  hue  pervading  them,  which 
is  quite  independent  of  the  dingy  tones  of  our  own  city, 
the  damps  of  Venice,  or  the  clear  sharpness  of  the  dry 
atmosphere  of  the  East."  While  painting  some  large  views 
on  the  Thames,  he  was  struck  down  with  apoplexy  in  the 
street,  and  died  the  same  day — November  25,  1864.  "We 
have  chosen  to  represent  his  art  by  a  small  picture  in  the 
collection  at  the  British  Museum — a  View  of  Mont  St.  Michel, 
a  subject  in  every  way  suited  to  his  pencil,  and  which  he  has 
treated  in  his  usual  vigorous  and  characteristic  style. 


MONT  ST.  MICHEL.    By  David  Roberts,  R.A. 

In  the  Print  Room,  British  Museum, 


CHAPTER  XIII. 


George  Cattermole — Joseph  Nash — James  Duffield  Harding— 
William  Evans  {of  Eton) — George  Chambers — John  Wil- 
liam Wright — James  Holland — Octavius  Oakley — John 
Burgess — Samuel  Jackson — Charles  Branwhite — Charles 
Bentley  —  Arthur  Glennie — J %mes  W.  Whittaker  —  David 
Cox,  Junior — John  Callow — William  James  Midler — 
Frank  Stone,  A.R.A. — Foreign  Artists — Egron  S.  Lund- 
gren — Otto  Weber. 

Though  trained  among  the  topographers,  to  whom  we  have 
briefly  referred  in  our  last  chapter,  George  Cattermole,  born 
at  Dickleburgh,  near  Diss,  in  August,  1800,  early  marked  out 
for  himself  an  independent  career  and  preserved  a  strong  and 
distinct  individuality  among  the  rising  water-colour  men  of 
his  time.  He  was  the  youngest  of  a  family  of  seven.  His 
elder  brother,  Richard,  who  became  a  dignitary  of  the  church, 
and  was  in  turn  the  rector  of  St.  Martin's  in  the  Fields,  and  of 
Little  Mario w,  Bucks,  was  also  at  first  a  painter  and  an  exhibi- 
tor in  London  as  early  as  1814.  The  younger  brother  was  first- 
employed  in  drawing  for  Britton's  English  Cathedrals,  working 
with  the  elder  Pugin,  and  in  1822  was  elected  an  associate 
exhibitor  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society.  In  1830  he 
travelled  into  Scotland  in  order  to  visit  the  localities  described 


190 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


by  Scott  in  his  novels,  which  subsequently  were  illustrated  by 
Cattermole  and  rendered  his  art  so  widely  known.  For  many 
years  he  was  a  contributor  to  the  Water-Colour  Society's  exhibi- 
tions, but  he  did  not  become  a  member  until  1833,  from  which 
time  he  sent  numerous  works  to  their  gallery,  until  1850,  when 
he  seceded  from  the  society,  and  resigned  his  membership  in 
1852.  His  knowledge  of  architecture  and  costume  was  turned 
to  good  account  in  his  pictures,  which  were  chiefly  drawn  from 
romantic  subjects.  He  painted  the  figure  with  ease,  and  intro- 
duced his  armed  robbers,  knights,  and  brigands  with  excellent 
effect.  Cattermole  worked  chiefly  from  memory,  without  the 
intervention  of  a  model,  and  this  facility  of  execution  gave 
much  freshness  and  vigour  to  his  compositions.  His  art  wras 
essentially  dramatic  and  pictorial,  and  he  tells  his  story  well, 
and  surrounds  his  characters  with  abundance  of  carefully 
selected  accessories.  Throughout  his  life  he  was  largely 
employed  for  the  publishers,  and  he  designed  the  illustra- 
tions for  the  Waverley  Novels,  and  for  many  works  of  the 
same  class.  Perhaps  his  best  drawings  were  made  for  the 
Historical  Annual,  devoted  to  the  scenes  of  the  Civil  War. 
After  his  retirement  from  the  Water-Colour  Society  he  essayed 
painting  in  oil  and  sent  some  works  to  the  Royal  Academy. 
He  was  of  a  peculiarly  sensitive  disposition,  and  much  disliked 
the  restraint  of  any  regular  duties ;  he  had  the  reputation  of 
not  being  strict  in  carrying  out  his  engagements.  Cattermole 
was  a  wonderfully  well-read  man,  versatile  in  his  accomplish- 
ments, and  one  whose  company  was  sought  after  by  the 
fashionable  society  of  his  time.  He  was  also  a  good  amateur 
actor  and  a  clever  mimic.  His  death  took  place  in  London, 
July  24,  1868.  At  the  Paris  Exhibition  of  1855  the  art  of 
Cattermole  greatly  delighted  the  French  critics,  and  he  was 


JOSEPH  NASH. 


193 


awarded  a  grande  medaille  d'honneur  ;  a  distinction  conferred 
also  upon  Sir  Edwin  Landseer,  but  upon  no  other  English 
artist. 

Cattermole  used  opaque  colours  with  the  utmost  freedom 
and  even  employed  toned  or  tinted  paper  to  give  greater  effect 
and  brilliance  to  the  body  colours.  The  papers  he  affected 
were  specially  prepared  for  him  by  Messrs.  Winsor  and 
Newton,  and  are  known  by  his  name.  We  are  enabled  to  re- 
present his  art  at  its  best  period  by  a  most  characteristic 
specimen  from  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington ; 
one  of  the  pictures  presented  by  Mrs.  Ellison,  Cellini  and  the 
Robbers,  the  subject  being  the  well-known  story  of  some 
brigands  who  offer  their  booty  for  sale  to  the  silversmith  who 
recognizes  his  own  handiwork.  The  greater  part  of  this 
picture  is  painted  with  opaque  colour. 

Another  water-colour  painter  who  began  life  as  an  architect 
and  who  rendered  excellent  service  to  his  art,  was  Joseph 
Nash,  the  son  of  a  clergyman  at  Croydon.  He  must  not  be 
confounded  with  an  earlier  namesake,  whose  Christian  name 
was  Frederick,  and  whose  career  we  have  described  at  p.  115. 
He  was  born  in  1803,  and  studied  under  the  elder  Pugin,  becom- 
ing in  course  of  time  an  expert  draughtsman.  He  strove  to  do 
more  than  the  topographers  attempted,  and  he  made  his  archi- 
tecture picturesque  and  interesting  by  the  insertion  of  appro- 
priate and  well-selected  groups  and  figures.  He  painted  the 
interiors  of  our  fine  old  English  houses,  and  excelled  in  the 
magnificent  architecture  of  the  Stuarts.  Many  of  his  drawings 
of  the  buildings  of  this  period  were  published  in  lithography. 
His  drawings  on  stone  resemble  much  in  their  method  and 
treatment  those  of  J.  D.  Harding.  We  may  mention  as  his 
chief  works  of  this  character  The  Mansions  of  England  in  the 

o 


194 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Olden  Time,  and  his  Views  of  the  Exterior  and  Interior  of 
Windsor  Castle,  1848.  Nash  became  an  associate  of  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Society  in  1834,  and  a  member  in  1842,  and 
throughout  life  was  a  constant  exhibitor.  He  died,  after  long 
illness  and  much  suffering,  at  Bayswater,  December  19,  1878, 
having  been  granted  a  civil  service  pension  of  £100  in  the 
very  year  of  his  death.  We  have  chosen,  to  represent  his  art, 
the  fine  interior  of  Speke  Hall,  Lancashire,  another  of  the  works 
presented  to  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington 
by  Mrs.  Ellison.  It  shows  us  the  squire,  seated  in  his  grand 
old  Elizabethan  hall,  enriched  with  characteristic  carving, 
hearing  a  charge  of  deer-stealing.  Nash  made  free  use  of 
body  colour,  especially  in  his  figures,  and  in  the  bright  touches 
of  high  lights.    This  work  is  signed  and  dated  1850. 

A  painter  who  like  Nash  was  strongly  impressed  with 
the  picturesque  aspect  of  his  subjects  was  James  Duffield 
Harding.  He  was  the  son  of  an  artist,  and  was  born  at  Dept- 
ford  in  1798.  He  was  at  first  articled  as  an  engraver  to  John 
Pye,  or  according  to  a  writer  in  the  Art  Journal,  to  Charles 
Pye.  Pie  subsequently  made  perspective  drawings  for  archi- 
tects, and  began  to  exhibit  landscapes  at  the  Royal  Academy 
as  early  as  1811.  Some  drawings  by  him  from  Swiss  scenery 
were  engraved  in  line  and  published  in  1822 ;  these  were 
reproduced  by  Harding  from  sketches  by  an  amateur. 
After  exhibiting  for  several  years  with  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society,  Harding  was  in  1820  elected  an  asso- 
ciate exhibitor,  and  the  following  year  a  member.  He  would 
seem  from  these  dates  to  belong  to  an  earlier  chapter,  but  in 
1846  he  withdrew  from  the  society  and  was  not  re-elected  until 
1856.  He  was  in  constant  request  as  a  teacher  of  drawing, 
and  enjoyed  a  large  and  lucrative  practice.   Pie  likewise  wrote 


J,    D.    HARDING  WJLLIAM  EVANS.  197 

many  works  on  drawing  and  painting,  and  produced  some 
excellent  lithographic  studies  of  continental  scenery.  He  is 
said,  in  the  course  of  a  visit  to  Italy  in  1830,  to  have  made 
sketches  upon  coloured  paper,  which  on  his  return  to  England 
were  greatly  admired,  and  were  the  means  of  bringing  this 
class  of  work  into  fashion.  Was  this  the  period  when  the 
practice  of  working  on  tinted  mounts  came  into  vogue  1  We 
mean  that  description  of  cardboard  drawing  where  high  lights 
were  removed  from  a  coloured  ground  by  erasing  the  surface 
with  a  knife?  He  published  in  1836,  Sketches  at  Rome  and 
Abroad,  and  in  1861,  Selections  from  the  Picturesque.  Harding's 
drawing  copies  shared  with  those  of  Prout,  the  chief  place  in 
public  estimation.  Many  of  his  works  were  avowedly  intended 
for  his  pupils,  such  as  the  Lessons  on  Art,  1849,  Lessons  on 
Trees,  1852,  and  Drawing  Models  and  Their  Uses,  1854.  The  last 
of  these  publications  described  the  well  known  solid  models, 
which  he  prepared  and  sold  for  teaching  purposes.  He  effected 
many  improvements  in  tinted  drawing  paper,  and  contributed 
greatly  to  the  advancement  of  lithography.  He  was  a  skilful 
and  rapid  draughtsman,  though  somewhat  mannered  in  his 
style,  and  rarely  rising  above  the  commonplace.  Harding  died 
at  Barnes,  December  4,  1863,  and  was  buried  in  Brompton 
Cemetery. 

William  Evans,  son  of  the  drawing-master  at  Eton  College^ 
was  born  at  Eton,  December  4,  1798,  and  succeeded  his  father 
in  1818.  He  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1828,  and  gained  his  membership  in  1831.  He 
contributed  chiefly  landscapes,  many  of  them  from  Scotch 
scenery,  to  the  Exhibitions.  He  was  the  frequent  guest  of 
the  Duke  of  Athole  and  there  painted  his  Highland  scenes. 
He  died  December  31,  1877. 


198 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


George  Chambers,  born  at  Whitby  in  1803,  was  the  son  of 
a  seaman  and  was  apprenticed  to  the  master  of  a  trading 
brig.  He  relinquished  a  seafaring  life  to  take  up  art  and 
became  a  house-painter  as  a  step  in  the  road  to  the  fine  arts. 
Somewhat  late  in  his  career  he  turned  his  attention  to  water- 
colours,  and  in  1834  he  was  elected  an  associate  exhibitor 
and  the  year  following  a  member  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society.  He  painted  chiefly  marine  views,  battles,  and  coast 
scenes,  but  though  truthful  and  correct,  his  works  have  a 
tendency  to  coldness  and  a  lack  of  colour.  He  was  for  a  time 
engaged  in  painting  at  the  Colosseum  in  Regent's  Park,  and 
he  also  worked  as  a  scene-painter.  He  died  prematurely 
October  29,  1840,  leaving  a  family  on  whose  behalf  a  sub- 
scription was  raised. 

John  William  Wright,  son  of  J.  Wright  the  miniature- 
painter,  was  born  in  London  in  1802,  and  studied  under 
Thomas  Phillips,  It. A.  He  was  elected  an  associate  of  the 
Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1831,  became  a  member  in  1841, 
and  was  appointed  the  secretary  in  1844.  He  generally  painted 
figure  subjects  of  a  domestic  character,  and  was  a  constant 
contributor  to  the  exhibitions.  Many  of  his  subjects  were 
taken  from  Shakespeare  and  he  worked  indefatigably  for  the 
Keepsake  and  the  Booh  of  Beauty.  He  was  also  an  occasional 
exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  suffered  much  from  ill- 
health,  and  succumbed  to  an  attack  of  influenza,  January  14, 
1848.  His  works  were  sold  by  auction  in  London  in  the 
following  spring. 

James  Holland  passed  his  youth  at  Burslem,  where  he  was 
born  October  17,  1800,  He  was  at  first  engaged  as  a  china- 
painter,  but  in  1819  he  came  to  London  and  for  a  time  sup- 
ported himself  by  teaching  and  flower-painting.  Making 


JAMES  HOLLAND  —  OCTAVIUS  OAKLLY. 


199 


some  progress  in  his  art  he  became  an  exhibitor  at  the  Royal 
Academy,  and  in  1835  we  find  him  an.  associate  exhibitor  at 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society.  The  same  year  he  travelled 
in  Italy  and  painted  the  interior  of  Milan  Cathedral,  and  a 
scene  on  the  Rialto,  Venice.  In  1837  he  visited  Portugal  to 
execute  a  series  of  views  for  the  Landscape  Annual  which 
were  engraved  in  1839.  In  1841  he  went  to  Paris  and  sub- 
sequently travelled  to  many  parts  of  the  Continent.  He 
seceded  from  the  Water-Colour  Society  in  1842,  but  was  re- 
elected in  1856,  and  in  1857  he  became  a  member.  He  paid 
many  visits  to  the  Continent,  and  painted  the  scenery  of  Italy 
and  the  Peninsula  with  glowing  colour  and  great  brilliancy  of 
effect,  His  Venetian  pictures  were  among  the  most  success- 
ful of  his  productions.  He  was  fond  of  peopling  his  land- 
scapes with  brilliant  groups  of  figures.  He  was  mucli 
employed  in  book  illustration  and  supplied  many  designs  for 
the  Annuals.  He  probably  painted  as  many  works  in  oil  as 
in  water-colours.  He  sent  pictures  to  the  Academy  as  also  to 
the  British  Institution  and  to  the  Suffolk  Street  Gallery.  His 
death  took  place  February  12,  1870,  shortly  after  which  there 
was  a  sale  of  his  works  at  Christie's. 

Octavius  Oakley,  born  in  April,  1S00,  began  life  as  a 
portrait-painter  at  Leamington,  where  he  enjoyed  a  consider- 
able practice.  Painting  later  at  Derby  he  produced  some 
admirable  rustic  scenes  and  excelled  in  his  groups  of  gipsies. 
About  1842  he  came  to  reside  in  London  and  soon  after  joined 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  of  which  he  became  a  member  in 
1844.  He  painted  latterly  picturesque  landscape  scenery  into 
which  the  figures  were  introduced  with  good  effect,  but  his 
drawings  were  weak  in  colour  and  wanting  in  light  and  shade. 
He  continued  to  produce  occasional  portraits  and  was  an 


200 


WATER  COLOUR  PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


exhibitor  at  the  Royal  Academy  from  time  to  time  until  1860. 
He  died  at  Bayswater,  March  1,  1867. 

John  Burgess,  the  son  of  an  artist,  born  about  1814,  at  first 
practised  as  a  teacher  at  Leamington.  He  was  elected  an 
associate  of  the  Old  "Water-Colour  Society  in  1851,  the  pick  of 
sixteen  candidates.  He  painted  picturesque  buildings  and 
street  scenes  in  Normandy  and  Brittany  and  in  various  parts 
of  the  Continent.  His  drawings  are  brilliant  and  sunny,  and 
he  was  a  rapid  and  skilful  sketcher.  He  affected  tinted 
drawing  papers.    He  died  June  11,  1874. 

Samuel  J ackson,  son  of  a  merchant  in  Bristol,  became  at  the 
age  of  thirty  a  pupil  of  F.  Danby,  A.B.A.,  and  having  formed 
the  friendship  of  Prout  and  Pyne,  he  was  in  1832  elected  an 
associate  exhibitor  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  and  ex- 
hibited many  landscape,  and  views  of  Welsh  scenery  until  his 
retirement  from  the  society  in  1848.  He  never  attained  to  full 
membership.  Towards  the  close  of  his  life  he  travelled  in 
Switzerland,  and  produced  some  of  his  most  successful  works 
He  died  in  1870,  at  the  age  of  seventy-five. 

Charles  Branwhite  was  also  born  in  Bristol  about  1818, 
and  studied  first  under  his  father,  a  local  artist  of  some  repute 
in  that  city.  He  seems  to  have  proposed  at  first  to  become  a 
sculptor  and  only  took  to  painting  in  oil  at  a  later  date. 
He  was  the  intimate  friend  of  W.  Miiller,  and  worked  much 
with  him.  In  1849  he  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society,  but  he  never  passed  to  full  membership.  He 
greatly  affected  winter  scenes,  and  though  he  was  a  brilliant 
and  facile  draughtsman  he  did  not  give  evidence  of  much 
originality.  He  loaded  his  drawings  with  body  colour  to  such 
an  extent  as  to  render  them  liable  to  be  considered  as  works 
in  tempera.    He  died  February  15,  1880,  aged  sixty-two. 


BENTLEY  GLENNTE  WHITTAKER  COX. 


201 


Charles  Bentley,  born  in  Tottenham  Court  Road  in  1805, 
was  the  son  of  a  builder,  and  owing  to  his  fondness  for  art  he 
was  placed  under  Fielding  to  study  engraving.  He  became  an 
associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1834  and  in  1843 
was  elected  a  member.  He  painted  marine  subjects  and  con- 
tributed frequently  to  the  Annuals.  His  works  are  spirited 
but  show  a  large  and  free  use  of  body  colour.  He  died  of 
cholera  in  September,  1854. 

Arthur  Glennie,  who  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Glennie  of 
Dulwich,  was  born  in  February,  1803,  and  after  beginning 
life  in  a  merchant's  office,  took  somewhat  late  to  art.  and  in 
1837  joined  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  as  an  associate, 
becoming  a  full  member  in  1858.  He  painted  mainly  foreign 
landscapes  and  passed  all  the  latter  years  of  his  life  in  Borne, 
where  he  died  in  January,  1890.  His  bright  and  sunny 
drawings,  refined  and  accurate  from  the  topographer's  point  of 
view,  were  much  admired. 

James  W.  Whittaker  began  life  as  an  engraver,  but 
having  a  taste  for  drawing  he  gave  up  this  profession  as  soon 
as  he  was  able  to  make  his  way  as  a  painter.  He  took  a  little 
cottage  at  Bettws-y-Coed  and  painted  Welsh  scenery,  selling 
his  drawings  for  small  sums  to  a  Manchester  dealer.  He  was 
elected  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1862, 
and  two  years  later  he  became  a  full  member.  He  was  acci- 
dentally drowned  at  Bettws  in  September,  1876,  falling  off  a 
rock  into  the  Llugwy. 

David  Cox,  Junior,  the  only  child  of  the  eminent  painter  of 
the  same  name,  was  born  near  Dulwich  in  1809,  had  his  early 
schooling  at  Dulwich  and  studied  under  his  father.  When 
the  elder  Cox  retired  to  Harborne  his  son  took  over  his  ex- 
tensive teaching  connection.    In    1848  he  was  elected  an 


202 


WATER-COLOUR   PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


associate  of  the  Old  Society,  but  never  attained  full  member- 
ship. He  had  previously  been  a  member  of  the  New  Water- 
Colour  Society,  but  he  resigned  in  1845.  His  style  greatly 
resembled  that  of  his  father,  and  the  younger  Cox's  works 
have  sometimes  been  sold  in  his  father's  name.  He  died  at 
Streatham,  December  6,  1885. 

John  Callow  was  born  July  19,  1822,  and  was  indebted  to 
his  elder  brother  for  his  art  education.  Elected  a  member  of 
the  New  Water-Colour  Society  in  1845  he  resigned  three  years 
later,  and  in  1849  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society.  His  subjects  were  generally  coast  scenes  and 
shipping.  He  was  much  engaged  in  teaching  and  produced 
some  well-known  drawing-books.  His  death  took  place  April 
25,  1878,  at  New  Cross. 

William  James  Muller  was  the  son  of  a  German  clergyman, 
who  was  the  Curator  of  the  Museum  at  Bristol,  in  which  city 
young  Miiller  was  born  in  1812.  Some  of  his  first  instruction 
in  art  was  received  from  J.  B.  Pyne,  his  fellow  townsman,  but 
he  soon  left  him  and  commenced  to  study  from  nature  by  him- 
self. In  1833-34  he  travelled  on  the  Continent  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  himself  in  his  art,  visiting  Germany,  Switzerland, 
and  Italy,  and  returning  subsequently  to  Bristol  to  practice 
his  art  with  scant  success,  sending  many  works  to  the  London 
Galleries.  In  1838  after  wandering,  sketch-book  in  hand 
through  Greece  and  Egypt  he  came  back  to  his  native  city,  but 
not  to  stay,  for  we  find  him  in  1839  settled  in  London.  Here 
his  Eastern  subjects  found  many  admirers,  and  he  published 
in  1841  his  Picturesque  Sketches  of  the  Age  of  Francis  I.  He 
subsequently  accompanied  the  government  expedition  to  Lycia, 
and  stored  his  portfolios  with  numerous  sketches,  but  he  was 
disheartened  by  the  way  in  which  his  works  were  hung  at  the 


W.  J.   MULLER  FRANK  STONE. 


205 


British  Institution  and  at  the  Academy.  About  this  time  he 
was  painting  much  in  oil,  in  which  medium  many  of  his  best 
works  were  produced.  Owing  to  failing  health  he  retired  to 
Bristol  and  died  there,  September  8,  1845.  When  David 
Cox  had  made  up  his  mind  to  paint  in  oil  it  was  to  Miiller 
that  he  turned  for  instruction  and  he  was  greatly  impressed 
by  his  extraordinary  facility  of  execution.  Miiller' s  sense  of 
colour  was  very  fine,  and  his  compositions  were  large  and 
grand  in  conception,  but  his  aerial  perspective  was  defective. 
Some  of  his  best  works  remind  us  of  the  scene-painter.  We 
represent  his  art  by  the  sketch  of  Mod  Siabod,  given  by  Mr. 
C.  T.  Maud  to  the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington. 
A  small  study  of  rockwork  and  falling  water,  with  mountains 
in  the  background,  which  will  serve  to  show  his  vigorous 
execution. 

During  the  more  recent  period  of  water-colour  art  not  a  few 
painters  of  eminence  began  their  career  in  connection  with 
one  or  the  other  of  the  Societies  and  subsequently,  on  attaining 
Academy  honours,  either  abandoned  water-colour  painting  alto- 
gether or  exhibited  but  little  in  this  medium.  Prominent 
among  them  we  may  mention  Frank  Stone,  A.R.A,  who  is 
best  known  by  his  oil  paintings,  but  who  joined  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Society  as  an  associate  in  1833,  and  became  a 
full  member  in  1843.  He  was  the  son  of  a  Manchester  cotton- 
spinner,  and  was  born  in  1800.  Though  at  first  intended  to 
follow  his  father's  business,  he  was  compelled  by  his  love  of 
art  to  sacrifice  his  position,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-four  to 
become  a  painter.  He  came  to  London  in  1831  and  at  first 
practised  in  water-colours,  and  for  some  time  worked  for 
Heath's  Book  of  Beauty.  Subsequently  he  painted  subject- 
pictures,  engaged  in  book  illustration,  and  joined  the  Etching 


206 


Club.  About  1837  he  began  to  paint  in  oil.  In  1846  he  re- 
signed his  membership  of  the  Water-Colour  Society,  and  in 
1857  he  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy.  He 
was  at  this  time  much  in  the  company  of  eminent  literary  men, 
the  friend  of  Dickens,  and  taking  part  with  him  in  amateur 
performances,  for  Stone  was  very  fond  of  acting.  He  died  in 
1859,  and  was  buried  at  Highgate  Cemetery. 

Several  foreigners  attracted  to  this  country  have  practised 
the  art  of  water-colour  painting  with  much  success.  Among 
these  we  may  mention  Egron  S.  Lundgren,  a  native  of  Sweden, 
born  in  1815,  who  was  educated  in  Paris,  where  he  entered  the 
studio  of  Leon  Coignet  and  subsequently  spent  four  years  in 
Italy  and  five  years  in  Spain.  He  likewise  travelled  in  Egypt 
and  in  the  East.  Meeting  J ohn  Phillip,  P.  A.,  at  Seville,  in  1851, 
he  was  invited  by  him  to  London,  and  he  visited  this  country 
in  1853.  It  is  conjectured  that  he  was  for  a  time  employed 
as  a  draughtsman  on  wood,  and  in  1857  he  accompanied  the 
staff  of  Lord  Clyde  in  the  Oudh  campaign.  On  his  return  to 
England  he  painted  several  subjects  for  the  Queen,  among 
others  the  Marriage  cf  the  Princess  Royal.  In  1864  he  was 
elected  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  and  two 
years  later  he  became  a  member.  His  works  were  characterized 
by  their  fine  colouring  and  rich  tone.  He  painted  chiefly 
figure  subjects,  and  many  of  his  drawings  were  acquired  by 
the  Queen.  His  sketches  in  India  to  the  number  of  217 
were  sold  by  auction  at  Christie's  in  1875  for  3,050  guineas. 
He  was  a  man  of  many  accomplishments,  an  excellent  linguist, 
and  the  author  of  several  works  published  at  Stockholm.  He 
died  at  Stockholm,  December  16,  1875,  in  the  sixtieth  year 
of  his  age. 

Otto  Weber,  the  son  of  a  merchant  in  Berlin,  was  born 


OTTO  WEBER. 


207 


October  17,  1832,  and  received  the  first  part  of  his  art  educa- 
tion in  his  native  city.  He  afterwards  settled  in  Paris  where 
his  animal  paintings  were  greatly  admired.  At  the  outbreak 
of  the  Franco-German  war  in  1870  he  went  to  Rome,  and  in 
1872  finding  that  Italian  subjects  were  distasteful  to  him,  he 
visited  London  and  here  he  remained  until  his  death  in  1888. 
He  sent  many  pictures  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  in  1876 
became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society.  He 
excelled  as  a  painter  of  animals  in  the  midst  of  charming  land- 
scape scenery.  His  remaining  drawings  were  sold  by  Messrs. 
Christie  in  1889. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


New  Water- Colour  Society — Louis  Haghe — Edward  Henry 
Wehnert  —  Henry  F.  Tidey  - —  Henry  Warren  —  Aaron 
Edwin  Penley — Thomas  Miles  Richardson — Thomas  Sew  ell 
Robins — William  Henry  Kearney — G.  H  Laporte — John 
Chase — Henry  Parsons  Riviere  —  H.  Clark  Pidgeon  — 
William  Lee — George  B.  Campion — John  Wylceham  Archer 
— William  Leighton  Leitch — Henry  John  Johnson — James 
Fahey  —  Benjamin  R.  Green  —  John  Skinner  Prout  — 
Michael  Angelo  Hayes — Henry  Bright — Charles  Vacher — 
John  Henry  Mole — George  Shalders — Frederick  John  Skill 
— Augustus  Jules  Bouvier — Thomas  Leeson  Rowbotham — 
The  Lady  Artists — Mary  Harrison — Elizabeth  Murray — 
Fanny  Corbaux  —  Eliza  Sharpe  —  Louisa  Sharpe  —  Mrs. 
Brookbank — Nancy  Rayner — Margaret  Gilles — Mrs.  H. 
Criddle — Helen  Cordelia  Angell — Mary  Lqfthouse. 

We  have  collected  in  this  chapter  some  brief  notices  of 
the  deceased  members  of  the  New  "Water-Colour  Society,  and 
here  also  we  have  brought  together  the  memoirs  of  some  of 
the  more  distinguished  ladies  who  have  practised  the  art. 

Louis  Haghe,  born  at  Tournay,  in  Belgium,  in  1806,  came 
to  England  while  quite  a  youth,  and  was  elected  in  1837  a 
member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  serving  in  turn  the 
office  of  vice-president  and  president  of  the  society,  to  which 
latter  office  he  was  elected  on  the  retirement  of  Warren  in 


LOUTS  HAGHE — EDWARD  HENRY  WEHNERT. 


211 


1873.  He  was  a  skilful  lithographer,  and  produced  many 
works  illustrating  the  picturesque  towns  and  scenery  of  the 
Continent.  His  paintings  are  powerful  and  vigorous  in  their 
matter  and  treatment,  and  his  historical  subjects  are  dramatic 
and  full  of  incident.  He  delighted  to  represent  the  fine  old 
architecture  of  the  Belgian  cities,  the  halls  of  Louvain  and 
Courtrai,  and  his  armed  soldiers  and  townspeople  are  admir- 
ably introduced  and  excellent  in  drawing.  Haghe  painted 
entirely  with  his  left  hand.  His  art  has  undoubtedly  exerted 
considerable  influence  on  his  contemporaries,  and  he  was 
throughout  life  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  the  Institute.  We  are 
permitted  to  reproduce  a  small  work  by  him  in  the  Historical 
Collection  at  South  Kensington,  A  Guard-Room,  No.  522, 
which  shows  his  skilful  handling  of  a  group  of  soldiers  who 
smoke  and  gossip  ;  it  is  signed  and  dated  1853.  Haghe  died 
in  London,  March  9,  1885. 

Edward  Henry  Wehnert  was  the  son  of  a  German  tailor 
in  a  large  wTay  of  business,  who  settled  in  London  and  sent  his 
boy  to  be  educated  in  Germany.  He  studied  at  Gottingen  and 
on  his  return  to  England  devoted  himself  to  art.  He  passed 
two  years  in  Paris  where  he  made  great  progress,  and  afterwards 
resided  for  some  time  in  J ersey.  Coming  back  to  London  in 
1837  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society, 
and  was  throughout  life  a  constant  and  important  contributor 
to  its  exhibitions.  His  chief  works  were  figure  subjects,  the 
drawing  and  execution  being  careful  and  conscientious,  but 
his  sense  of  colour  was  scarcely  pleasing  and  his  light  and 
shade  badly  defined.  He  died  in  Kentish  Town,  September  15, 
1878,  aged  54.  A  collective  exhibition  of  his  works  was  made 
in  the  Gallery  of  the  Institute  of  Painters  in  Water-Colours 
in  the  following  Spring. 

p  2 


212 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Henry  F.  Tidey,  the  son  of  a  schoolmaster  at  Worthing  was 
born  January  7,  1815.  He  first  worked  as  a  portrait-painter, 
and  after  exhibiting  for  some  time  at  the  Academy,  he  was,  in 
1858,  elected  an  associate,  and  the  year  following  a  member  of 
the  Institute  of  Painters  in  Water  Colours.  He  was  a  most 
industrious  and  clever  artist,  and  painted  figure  subjects, 
many  of  them  of  a  large  size.  In  1859  his  drawing,  entitled 
The  Feast  of  Roses,  was  purchased  by  Her  Majesty.  His 
numerous  contributions  to  the  exhibitions  of  the  New  Water- 
Colour  Society  added  much  to  the  attractiveness  of  the 
gallery.    He  died  in  1872. 

Henry  Warren,  K.L.,  was  educated  as  a  sculptor  and 
studied  under  Nollekens.  After  passing  through  the  Academy 
School  he  began  to  paint  in  oil,  but  subsequently  joined  the 
New  Society  of  Painters  in  Water-Colours,  of  which  he  ulti- 
mately became  the  President.  He  was  an  able  artist  and 
worked  extensively  for  the  publishers.  Warren  was  also  him- 
self an  author,  and  issued  the  Artistic  Anatomy  of  the  Human 
Figure.  He  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  on  his  retirement 
became  the  Honorary  President  of  the  Society.  He  died  at 
Wimbledon,  December  18,  1879,  aged  85. 

The  reputation  of  Aaron  Edwin  Penley  will  rest  chiefly  on 
his  art  writings  and  his  fame  as  a  successful  teacher.  He  at 
first  practised  as  a  miniature  painter  at  Manchester.  After 
exhibiting  for  some  time  at  the  Academy,  he  was  in  1838 
elected  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  but  from 
this  he  withdrew  in  1856.  He  was  the  professor  of  drawing 
first  at  the  East  India  College,  Addiscombe,  and  subsequently 
at  the  Royal  Military  Academy,  Woolwich.  He  died  suddenly 
at  Lewisham,  January  15,  1870,  in  his  64th  year.  His  best 
known  works  are  The  English  School  of  Painting  in  Water- 


RICHARDSON — ROBINS  —  KEARNEY — LAPORTE. 


213 


Colours,  published  in  1861,  and  Sketching  from  Nature  in 
Water  -  Colours,  which  appeared  in  1869.  Penley  was 
appointed  painter  in  water-colours  to  King  William  IV.  and 
Queen  Charlotte.  His  drawings  were  sold  at  Christie's  after 
his  death  in  1871. 

Thomas  Miles  Richardson,  born  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
May  15,  1784,  after  being  some  time  the  head  master  of 
the  St.  Andrew's  Grammar  School,  resigned  his  appointment 
in  order  to  devote  himself  wholly  to  art.  He  drew  both  in  oil 
and  water-colours,  and  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy,  the 
British  Institution,  and  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  of  which 
he  was  a  member  until  1843.  He  published  several  engraved 
works,  and  died  March  7,  1848.  His  landscapes  were  treated 
in  a  bold  and  original  manner,  and  he  excelled  in  sunset 
effects.    His  son,  a  member  of  the  Old  Society,  died  in  1890. 

Thomas  Sewell  Robins,  born  at  Devonport  in  1811,  was  an 
original  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  and  studied 
art  under  Mr.  Ball,  a  Plymouth  artist.  He  subsequently  came 
to  London,  and  worked  at  the  Schools  of  the  Royal  Academy. 
After  travelling  on  the  Continent,  and  visiting  Rome  and 
Venice,  he  turned  his  attention  to  marine  subjects,  upon  which 
his  reputation  chiefly  depends.  Failing  health  compelled  him 
to  retire  from  the  Institute  in  1865.  He  died  at  Kensington, 
August  9,  1880. 

William  Henry  Kearney  was  one  of  the  foundation  mem- 
bers and  a  Vice-President  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society. 
He  exhibited  principally  landscapes,  with  now  and  then  a 
figure  subject,  which  were  pleasant  in  colour  and  painted  in 
the  earlier  transparent  manner.  His  death  took  place  in  his 
58th  year,  on  June  25,  1858. 

G.    H.    Laforte,  after  exhibiting  for   some  time  at  the 


214 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Suffolk  Street  Gallery,  became  an  original  member  of  the  New 
Water-Colour  Society,  to  whose  exhibitions  he  was  a  constant 
contributor.  He  painted  chiefly  animal  subjects  with  groups 
of  costume  figures,  hunting  subjects,  military  groups,  and 
Arab  scenes.    He  died  October  23,  1873. 

John  Chase,  born  in  1810,  became  one  of  the  earlier  mem- 
bers of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  to  which  Society  his 
daughter,  an  expert  flower  painter,  also  belonged.  He  delighted 
to  paint  old  ivy-clad  buildings,  and  chose  many  subjects  from 
Haddon  Hall.    He  died  in  London,  January  8,  1879. 

Henry  Parsons  Riviere,  born  August  16,  1811,  after 
studying  at  the  Schools  of  the  Royal  Academy,  became  a 
member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society  in  1834,  but 
afterwards  joined  the  older  Society  in  1852.  He  painted 
chiefly  genre  and  subject  pictures,  and  spent  nearly  all  the 
latter  part  of  his  life  in  Rome,  but  died  in  London  in  May, 
1888. 

H.  Clark  Pidgeon,  born  March,  1807,  and  educated  at 
Reading,  was  destined  for  the  Church,  but  his  natural 
inclinations  led  him  to  the  pursuit  of  art.  He  was  for  a  time 
the  editor  of  the  Berkshire  Clironicle.  He  went  to  Paris  in 
order  to  study  art,  and  eventually  became  the  master  of  the 
Drawing  School  at  the  Liverpool  Institute.  He  was  from  the 
year  1846  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  He 
died  August  6,  1880. 

William  Lee,  born  1809,  contributed  in  the  early  part  of 
his  career  compositions  introducing  rustic  figures,  and  in  later 
life  French  coast  scenery  and  figure  subjects  to  the  exhibitions 
of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 
His  death  took  place  in  London,  January  22,  1865. 

George  B.  Campion  was  elected  a  member  of  the  New 


J.   W.   ARCHER — W.   L.  LEITCH. 


215 


Water  Colour  Society  in  1837,  and  was  a  prominent  contri- 
butor of  views,  some  of  them  rather  hasty  in  point  of 
execution  to  their  exhibitions.  He  was  also  a  writer  of 
considerable  repute  on  art  and  other  subjects.  He  was  the 
author  of  The  Adventures  of  a  Chamois  Hunter.  He  died  at 
Munich,  where  he  had  long  been  resident,  April  7,  1870. 

John  Wykeham  Archer,  born  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
August  2,  1808,  was  articled  to  Scott,  the  engraver,  and  after 
practising  engraving  in  Newcastle  and  Edinburgh  he  came  to 
London  and  worked  for  Finden.  He,  however,  abandoned  his 
art  for  topographical  work,  and  was  much  employed  in  drawing 
ancient  buildings  for  the  publishers.  He  was  an  associate  of 
the  Institute  of  Painters  in  Water  Colours,  and  contributed 
several  of  his  most  important  works  to  their  exhibitions. 
Archer  published  Vestiges  of  Old  London,  drawn  and  etched 
by  himself,  in  1851.  He  died  suddenly  in  London,  May 
25,  1864.  Archer  had  some  taste  for  authorship  and  con- 
tributed papers  on  antiquarian  subjects  to  the  Gentleman 's 
Magazine.  He  also  wrote  for  Douglas  Jerrold's  magazine 
Recreations  of  Mr.  Zigzag,  the  Elder.  His  collection  of  draw- 
ings is  in  the  British  Museum. 

William  Leighton  Leitch  was  the  son  of  a  manufacturer 
in  Glasgow,  and  was  born  there  in  1804.  He  early  showed  a 
taste  for  drawing,  but  was  articled  to  a  lawyer,  and  in  time 
threw  up  his  articles  in  order  to  study  art  in  London.  He 
worked  with  Roberts  and  Stanfield,  and  studied  in  Italy  for 
five  years.  Leitch  became  a  member  and  subsequently  a  Yice- 
President  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  He  painted 
chiefly  classic  landscapes,  and  was  drawing-master  to  the 
Queen  and  to  many  members  of  the  Royal  Family.  He  died 
April  25,  1883. 


216 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Henry  John  Johnson,  born  in  Birmingham  in  April,  1826, 
was  the  son  of  an  artist  and  received  his  early  training  in 
Birmingham.  He  afterwards  was  placed  under  Wm.  Miiller 
and  travelled  with  him  to  the  East.  He  sent  many  works  to 
the  British  Institution  and  to  the  Royal  Academy,  mostly  land- 
scapes from  foreign  countries.  He  likewise  sketched  in  Wales 
and  Scotland,  and  was  the  frequent  companion  of  David  Cox. 
He  became  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society  in 
1870,  and  died  in  London,  December  31,  1884. 

James  Fahey,  the  energetic  Secretary  of  the  New  Water 
Colour  Society  for  so  many  years,  was  trained  as  an  engraver 
under  his  uncle,  John  Swaine.  He  was  born  at  Paddington, 
April  16,  1804,  and  when  he  had  adopted  painting  as  his 
profession  became  a  pupil  of  Scharf,  of  Munich.  He  joined 
the  Institute  in  1835,  and  became  its  Secretary  in  1838. 
When  the  Society  reformed  itself  and  became  the  Royal 
Institute  in  1874,  he  resigned.  He  was  for  many  years 
the  drawing-master  of  the  Merchant  Taylors'  School,  and 
throughout  life  devoted  himself  to  landscape  painting.  He 
died  December  11,  1885. 

Benjamin  B,  Green  was  a  member  of  an  artistic  family, 
both  his  father  and  mother  being  well  known  as  portrait 
painters.  He  studied  at  the  Schools  of  the  Boyal  Academy,  and 
painted  landscape  and  figure  subjects,  which  he  contributed 
principally  to  the  gallery  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society, 
of  which  he  was  a  member.  He  was  for  the  best  years  of  his 
life  the  Secretary  of  the  Artists'  Annuity  Fund.  He  died  in 
London,  October  5,  1876,  aged  sixty-eight. 

John  Skinner  Prout  who  was  born  in  Plymouth  in  1806, 
was  the  nephew  of  Samuel  Prout.  To  a  large  extent  he  was 
self-taught,  and   he   first  practised   the  study   of  ancient 


M.   A.  HAYES — H.  BRIGHT. 


217 


buildings,  publishing  certain  of  his  drawings.  He  resided 
some  time  in  Bristol,  and  there,  together  with  Miiller,  whose 
acquaintance  he  had  formed  in  early  youth,  he  prepared  the 
sketches  for  his  work  on  The  Antiquities  of  Bristol.  He 
lived  for  many  years  in  Australia,  and  on  his  return  to 
England  painted  a  Panorama  of  the  Gold  Fields,  which  was 
exhibited  with  much  success.  Prout  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  and  continued  to  exhibit 
subjects  of  an  architectural  character,  more  refined  in  treat- 
ment than  those  of  his  uncle,  until  his  death,  which  took 
place  at  Camden  Town,  August  29,  1876. 

Michael  Angelo  Hayes  was  the  son  of  Edward  Hayes, 
the  water-colour  painter,  and  was  born  at  "Waterford,  July 
25,  1820.  For  several  years  previous  to  his  election  to  the 
associateship  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society  he  contributed 
paintings  in  oil  and  water-colours  to  the  exhibitions  of  the 
Royal  Academy.  He  was  subsequently  elected  a  member  of 
the  Royal  Hibernian  Academy,  of  which  institution  he  was 
for  many  years  the  Secretary.  He  is  best  known  by  his 
subject  pictures  in  oils,  and  for  his  military  sketches  in  water- 
colours.  His  death,  the  result  of  an  accident,  took  place 
December  31,  1877. 

Henry  Bright  was  born  at  Saxmundham  in  1814,  and  was 
apprenticed  to  a  chemist.  He  afterwards  became  dispenser  to 
the  Norwich  Hospital,  and  found  time  to  acquire  a  knowledge 
of  art  for  which  he  had  always  shown  a  great  inclination.  In 
1839  he  became  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society, 
but  afterwards  seceded  from  it  and  sent  his  works  in  oil  to 
the  Academy.  His  art  was  bold  and  vigorous,  and  he  painted 
landscapes  showing  a  true  feeling  for  nature.  When  his  health 
failed  he  retired  to  Ipswich,  and  died  there  September  21,  1873. 


218 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Charles  Vacher,  the  son  of  a  London  stationer,  studied  art 
in  the  Schools  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  travelled  through 
Germany,  France,  and  Italy,  where  he  made  numerous 
sketches,  which  furnished  the  materials  for  his  pictures.  These 
works  were  elaborately  finished  compositions,  excellent  in  colour, 
and  very  artistic  in  treatment.  He  joined  the  New  Water- 
Colour  Society  in  1846,  and  was  always  a  large  contributor 
to  their  exhibitions.  He  died  July  21,  1883,  aged  sixty-five 
years. 

John  Henry  Mole  was  born  in  1814  at  Alnwick,  and  at 
first  worked  in  a  solicitor's  office  at  Newcastle-on-Tyne.  His 
love  of  art  prompted  him  to  forsake  the  law  and  to  adopt 
miniature  painting  as  his  profession.  He  became  an  associate 
of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society  in  1847  and  removed  to 
London.  He  painted  at  that  time  landscape  and  figure 
pictures,  and  in  1884  he  was  elected  Yice-President  of  the 
Society.    He  died  December  13,  1886. 

George  Shalders,  after  exhibiting  for  some  time  at  the 
Royal  Academy,  was  in  1863  elected  an  associate,  and  two 
years  later  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  He 
painted  chiefly  landscapes  with  sheep  and  cattle.  At  the 
comparatively  early  age  of  forty-seven  he  was  attacked  with  a 
paralytic  seizure,  and  died,  after  a  few  days'  illness,  January 
27,  1873.  He  had  not  been  able  to  make  provision  for  his  wife 
and  family,  so  his  artist  friends  raised  a  subscription  and 
formed  a  collection  of  drawings,  which  were  sold  at  Christie's 
on  their  behalf  in  the  year  following  his  death. 

Frederick  John  Skill  wTas  born  at  S  waff  ham,  in  Norfolk, 
July  12,  1824.  He  studied  under  Cotman,  and  subsequently 
in  Paris.  He  lived  for  several  years  in  Brittany,  where  he 
painted  many  of  his  most  important  drawings.    In  1871  he 


A.  J.   BOUVIER — T.   L.  ROWBOTHAM. 


219 


became  a  member  of  the  New  Water  Colour  Society,  and 
died  in  London,  after  a  lingering  illness,  March  8,  1881.  He 
was  much  employed  as  a  book  illustrator,  and  executed  many 
drawings  for  the  Illustrated  London  News.  His  works,  which 
display  considerable  power  and  exhibit  a  fine  sense  of  colour, 
were  pleasing  and  well  drawn. 

Augustus  Jules  Bouvier,  who  was  born  in  London  in 
March,  1825,  first  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1852, 
and  in  the  same  year  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  New 
Water  Colour  Society.  He  became  a  member  in  1865.  He 
painted  figure  subjects  with  great  skill,  his  work  entitled 
Lesbia  having  been  bought  by  the  late  Prince  Consort  in 
1861.    He  died,  after  a  long  illness,  January  20,  1881. 

Thomas  Leeson  Rowbotham,  born  May  21,  1823,  a  native 
of  Dublin,  was  the  son  of  an  artist  who  practised  at  Bath. 
Young  Rowbotham  studied  art  under  his  father,  and  after  a 
sketching  tour  in  Wales  visited  in  turn  Germany,  France,  and 
Italy.  He  delighted  in  warm  sunny  pictures,  and  excelled 
in  his  marine  subjects  painted  under  bright  Italian  skies.  He 
was  much  engaged  as  a  teacher,  and  succeeded  his  father  as 
drawing-master  at  the  Royal  Naval  School,  New  Cross.  He 
became  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society  in  1858, 
and  contributed  many  works  to  its  exhibitions.  His  health 
was  always  indifferent,  and  he  died,  at  the  age  of  52,  on  June 
30,  1875. 

Many  distinguished  lady  artists  belonged  during  this 
period  to  the  Water-Colour  Societies,  and  the  Institute,  as  we 
have  seen,  set  apart  a  special  class  for  their  lady  members. 
Our  space  will  scarcely  enable  us  to  do  more  than  mention  the 
names  of  a  few  of  them. 

Mary  Harrison,  born  in  Liverpool  in  1788,  was  one  of  the 


220 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


foundation  members  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  and 
was  throughout  life  a  constant  contributor  of  gracefully 
painted  flower  pictures  to  its  exhibitions.  After  her  marriage 
to  Mr.  Harrison,  in  1814,  she  was  for  a  time  in  easy  circum- 
stances, but  on  the  ruin  of  her  husband  by  a  disastrous 
partnership  she  maintained  and  educated  a  family  of  twelve 
children  by  the  proceeds  of  her  art.  She  died  November 
25,  1875. 

Elizabeth  Murray,  a  daughter  of  T.  Heaphy,  who  was 
likewise  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  died 
in  1882. 

Fanny  Corbaux,  born  in  1812,  was  an  excellent  writer  as 
well  as  an  artist  of  acknowledged  ability.  She  was  a  member 
of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  and  contributed  largely  to 
its  gallery.    Miss  Corbaux  died  at  Brighton,  February  1,  1883. 

The  sisters  Eliza  and  Louisa  Sharpe  belonged  to  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Society.  The  latter  afterwards  became  Mrs. 
Seyffarth,  and  her  contributions  to  the  exhibitions  were  much 
admired;  she  died  in  Dresden  in  1843.  Her  works  were  as  a 
rule  subject  pictures  dramatically  rendered  and  highly  finished 
in  point  of  execution.  Her  sister  Eliza  survived  her  for 
many  years,  and  died  in  Chelsea,  June  11,  1874,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-eight. 

Mrs.  Brookbank  whose  maiden  name  was  Scott,  was  for 
some  years  an  exhibitor  at  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society, 
of  which  she  was  elected  a  member  in  1823.  She  painted 
tasteful  groups  of  flowers  and  fruit,  but  shortly  after  her 
marriage  she  appears  to  have  relinquished  art. 

Nancy  Rayner,  an  artist  of  much  promise,  after  having 
been  elected  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in 
1850,  died  of  decline  in  1855  at  the  early  age  of  28.    She  was 


GILLIES — CRIDDLE  ANGELL — LOFTHOUSE. 


221 


the  daugliter  of  Mr.  Samuel  Rayner,  the  water-colour  painter. 
She  contributed  picturesque  and  rustic  figures  and  carefully 
painted  interiors  to  the  exhibitions. 

Margaret  Gillies,  who  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  August  7, 
1803,  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in 
1852,  and  was  at  first  very  successful  as  a  portrait  painter  and 
in  her  family  groups.  Subsequently  she  depicted  scenes  from 
Shakespeare  and  the  poets.  She  died  at  Crockham  Hill,  Kent, 
July  20,  1887. 

Mrs.  H.  Criddle,  elected  a  lady  member  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society  in  1849,  for  thirty  years  sent  charming  draw- 
ings of  birds'  nests,  flowers,  and  fruit  to  the  Exhibition.  She 
died  at  the  age  of  seventy-five,  December  28,  1880. 

Helen  Cordelia  Angell,  whose  maiden  name  was  Cole- 
man, was  born  in  1847,  studied  under  her  brother,  W.  S. 
Coleman,  and  painted  flowers  and  plumage  with  rare  skill. 
She  was,  moreover,  a  brilliant  colourist,  and  her  drawings  at 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  of  which  she  was  a  member, 
were  highly  appreciated.  She  at  first  joined  the  Institute, 
but  she  resigned  her  membership  in  that  body  in  1878,  and 
was  elected,  in  1879,  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society.  She  died,  after  a  long  illness,  at  the  early  age  of 
thirty-seven,  March  8,  1884. 

Mary  Lofthouse,  whose  maiden  name  was  Forster,  was 
born  in  1853  and  was  the  daughter  of  an  artist;  in  1884  she 
became  a  member  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society.  She 
had  a  delicate  feeling  for  colour,  and  painted  old  buildings 
with  excellent  taste.  Her  death  took  place  less  than  a 
twelvemonth  after  her  marriage,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  on 
May  2,  1885. 


CHAPTER  XY. 


Francis  William  Topham — Edward  Duncan — Joseph  John 
Jenkins — George  Hay  dock  Dodgson — William  Colling  wood 
Smith — George  John  Pinwell — Arthur  Boyd  Houghton 
— Frederick  Walker,  A.R.A. — John  Frederick  Lewis,  R.A. 
— Samuel  Palmer — Gabriel  Charles  Dante  Rossetti — 
Samuel  Read — Alfred  Pizzey  Newton — Henry  Brittan 
Willis  —  Thomas  Danby  —  Randolph  Caldecott  —  Philip 
Henry  Delamotte  —  Thomas  Miles  Richardson  —  Walter 
Goodall — Frederick  Tayler — Paul  Jacob  Naftel — Maud 
Naftel. 

We  have  still  to  glance  at  the  careers  of  many  eminent 
masters  of  the  art,  some  of  whom  belong  almost  to  the  pre- 
sent day,  and  who  have  contributed  by  their  works  to  bring 
water-colour  painting  to  the  proud  position  which  it  now 
occupies  in  the  art  of  this  country. 

Francis  William  Topham,  born  in  Leeds,  April  15,  1808, 
was  a  self-taught  artist,  who  at  first  practised  as  an  engraver, 
in  which  art  he  became  very  proficient.  He  subsequently  in 
1843  became  a  member  of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society,  but 
quitted  this  body  in  1847,  shortly  before  his  election  into  the 
Old  Water-Colour  Society,  of  which  he  became  a  member  in 


E.   DUNCAN  J.   J.  JENKINS. 


223 


the  following  year.  His  figure  subjects,  many  of  them 
drawn  from  the  foreign  countries  he  visited,  attained  a  high 
reputation,  and  his  art  was  greatly  appreciated.  His  colour- 
ing was  remarkable  for  its  depth  and  intensity  and  he  made 
free  use  of  body  colour.  He  died  at  Cordova,  in  Spain, 
March  31,  1877. 

Edward  Duncan  was  born  in  London  in  1803,  and  having 
shown  a  taste  for  art  from  his  earliest  childhood,  was  articled  to 
Robert  Havell,  the  engraver.  While  working  here  he  copied  and 
studied  many  of  the  fine  drawings  of  William  Havell,  and  he 
was  thus  led  to  abandon  engraving  and  to  take  up  painting  as 
a  profession.  He,  too,  first  joined  the  New  Water-Colour 
Society,  but  shortly  after  withdrew  from  it,  and  in  1848  was 
elected  an  associate  of  the  Old  Society,  and  in  1849  he  be- 
came a  full  member.  His  marine  views  were  greatly  esteemed, 
and  he  was  an  indefatigable  contributor  to  the  exhibitions. 
He  also  worked  for  the  illustrated  papers  and  drew  on  wood 
for  the  publishers.  He  died  at  Haverstock  Hill,  after  a  short 
illness,  April  11,  1882. 

Another  artist  who  was  brought  up  as  an  engraver  and  who 
was  induced  subsequently  to  try  his  fortune  as  a  water-colour 
painter  was  J oseph  J  ohn  J enkins.  He  was  born  in  London  in 
1811,  and  in  1849  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society,  and  a  full  member  in  1850.  He,  too,  had  previously 
belonged  to  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  His  subject 
pictures  and  landscapes  were  very  popular,  he  drew  the  figure 
well,  and  his  work  was  harmonious  and  pleasing.  He  was  for 
many  years  the  Secretary  of  the  Society,  and  devoted  much 
time  to  its  interests.  At  the  period  of  his  death  Mr.  Jenkins 
was  gathering  materials  for  the  history  of  the  Society,  which 
work  has  recently  been  ably  completed  by  Mr.  J.  L.  Roget  and 


224 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


has  been  constantly  consulted  by  us  for  authentic  records  of  the 
early  days  of  water-colour  art.  Mr.  Jenkins  retired  from  the 
secretaryship  in  1864,  and  died,  after  a  short  illness,  March  9, 
1885.  At  his  death  he  bequeathed  £1,000  to  the  Society,  to 
which  he  had  made  many  liberal  donations. 

George  Haydock  Dodgson,  born  in  Liverpool  in  1811,  was 
educated  as  a  civil  engineer  under  George  Stephenson,  but 
finding  the  work  too  laborious  for  his  health,  he  gave  up  his 
employment  and  settled  in  London  as  an  architectural  colour- 
ist.  He  worked  also  for  the  Illustrated  London  News,  and 
found  his  services  so  greatly  in  request  that  he  was  unable  to 
devote  himself  so  much  as  he  wished  to  drawing  from  nature. 
Dodgson  was  at  first  a  member  of  the  Institute,  but  resigning 
his  connection  with  the  younger  Society,  he  was  in  1848  elected 
an  associate,  and  in  1852  a  full  member  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society.  He  died  in  London,  June  4, 1880.  His  land- 
scapes are  fresh  and  brightly-coloured  interpretations  of  nature, 
and  charm  by  their  vividness  and  truth.  In  the  winter 
exhibition  of  the  year  in  which  he  died  there  w&s  a  loan 
collection  of  his  works  to  the  number  of  fifty-two  in  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Gallery.  His  remaining  drawings  were  sold  at 
Christie's  in  1881. 

William  Collingwood  Smith,  born  at  Greenwich  in  1815, 
after  working  many  years  as  an  oil  painter,  was  elected 
an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1843,  and 
in  1849  became  a  full  member.  On  joining  the  Society  he 
discontinued  entirely  his  oil-painting.  He  served  the  office  of 
treasurer  for  upwards  of  twenty-five  years,  and  was  most 
devoted  to  the  best  interests  of  the  Society.  He  painted  lake 
and  mountain  scenery  with  great  technical  dexterity  and 
breadth  of  effect.    His  drawings  are  occasionally  somewhat 


G.   J.    PINWELL  A.    B.  HOUGHTON. 


225 


garish  in  colour,  and  his  landscapes  do  not  impress  one  with 
truth  to  nature,  being  somewhat  scenic  in  character.  He 
used  in  his  later  works  but  little  or  no  body  colour,  but  painted 
transparently  over  a  grey  or  neutral  ground.  He  had  a  large 
connection  as  a  teacher.  He  died  at  Brixton,  March  15,  1887, 
aged  seventy-one. 

George  John  Pinwell,  born  in  London,  December  26, 
1842,  received  his  art  education  at  Hatherley's  School.  He 
first  came  into  notice  as  a  successful  book-illustrator,  and  ex- 
hibited at  the  Dudley  Gallery.  He  became  an  associate  of 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society  in  1869,  and  was  elected  a 
member  two  years  later.  Many  of  his  subject  pictures  were 
greatly  admired,  and  his  reputation  was  already  firmly  estab- 
lished when  he  was  too  early  lost  to  art  at  the  age  of  33. 
His  death  took  place  in  London,  September  8,  1875.  Pin  well's 
drawings  were  much  appreciated  on  the  Continent,  notably  at 
the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1878,  and  he  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  the  Belgian  Society  of  Painters  in  Water-Colours. 
He  was  a  brilliant  draughtsman  and  a  good  colourist,  though 
he  almost  eschewed  the  use  of  transparent  colours.  The  com- 
position of  his  pictures  was  carefully  studied,  and  some  of 
his  works,  such  as  The  Pied  Piper  of  Hamelin  and  Gilbert  a 
Beckers  Troth,  are  well  known  by  the  etchings.  His  art  made 
much  impression  on  his  contemporaries,  and  his  influence  for 
good  can  be  traced  in  the  work  of  several  of  his  followers. 

Arthur  Boyd  Houghton,  born  in  1836,  was  the  son  of  a 
Captain  of  H.M.  Indian  Navy.  He  at  first  painted  in  oils, 
but  on  subsequently  obtaining  an  engagement  to  draw  on 
wood  for  Messrs.  Dalziel,  Brothers,  he  devoted  himself  almost 
entirely  to  this  branch  of  art.  He  worked  occasionally  for 
the  illustrated  papers,  but  his  designs  are  not  characterized 

Q 


226 


WATER-COLOUR   PATNTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


by  great  accuracy  or  elegance.  He  was  a  rich  and  powerful 
colourist,  though  he  painted  but  little.  He  became  an  Asso- 
ciate of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  in  1871,  and  died 
November  22,  1875. 

Frederick  Walker,  A.RA.,  was  born  in  Marylebone  in 
1840,  and  commenced  the  study  of  art  by  drawing  at  the 
British  Museum.  He  afterwards  worked  at  Leigh's  School 
and  at  the  Royal  Academy.  About  this  time  he  began  to 
draw  on  wood,  and  remained  for  three  years  with  a  wood- 
engraver  to  perfect  himself  in  this  branch  of  art.  An  intro- 
duction to  Thackeray  procured  him  work  for  the  Cornhill 
Magazine,  and  he  was  much  engaged  on  the  illustrations  for 
periodical  literature.  In  1864  he  was  elected  an  associate  of 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  and  in  1866  became  a  member. 
He  had  already  begun  to  paint  in  oil,  and  in  1863  he  sent  to 
the  Academy  The  Lost  Path,  a  pathetic  work  representing  a 
poor  woman  carrying  an  infant  through  the  snow.  Many 
of  his  finest  drawings  were  executed  about  this  time  and 
Walker  was  the  only  English  artist  who  received  a  medal 
for  water-colours  at  the  Paris  Exhibition  in  1867.  In  1871 
he  became  an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy,  being  the 
first  painter  who  attained  Academy  honours  while  still  a 
member  of  the  Water-Colour  Society.  Towards  the  close  of 
his  career  he  painted  many  fine  works  in  oil,  and  these 
are  well  known  by  the  admirable  etchings  of  R.  W.  Macbeth. 
Walker's  art  was  sui  generis,  and  he  seems  to  have  evolved, 
both  in  drawing,  colouring,  and  execution,  a  method  peculiarly 
his  own.  Ruskin  speaks  thus  of  his  works  in  a  letter  to 
H.  S.  Marks  : — "  Their  harmonies  of  amber  colour  and  purple 
are  full  of  exquisite  beauty  in  their  chosen  key;  their  composi- 
tion always  graceful,  often  admirable,  and  the  sympathy  they 


FREDERICK  WALKER — JOHN  FREDERICK  LEWIS. 


227 


express  with  all  conditions  of  human  life  most  kind  and  true ; 
not  without  power  of  rendering  character,  which  would  have 
been  more  recognized  in  an  inferior  artist  because  it  would 
have  been  less  restrained  by  the  love  of  beauty."  Walker 
died  of  consumption,  June  5,  1875,  at  St.  Fillan's,  Perthshire, 
and  was  buried  at  Cookham-on-the-Thames,  a  spot  he  loved. 

John  Frederick  Lewis,  RA.,  was  the  eldest  son  of  the 
eminent  engraver,  and  was  born  in  London,  July  14,  1805. 
He  studied  at  first  under  his  father,  and  devoted  himself 
chiefly  to  animal  painting,  and  later  tried  his  hand  at  etching. 
He  first  exhibited  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  one  of  his 
pictures  at  the  British  Institution  was  bought  by  Mr.  G. 
Garrard,  A. P.  A.  At  this  time  he  was  engaged  by  Sir  Thomas 
Lawrence,  as  assistant  draughtsman,  and  a  few  years  later 
his  works  having  attracted  the  attention  of  King  George  TV. 
he  was  commissioned  by  His  Majesty  to  paint  deer  and  sport- 
ing subjects  at  Windsor.  As  early  as  1825  he  published  a 
collection  of  his  etchings.  In  1827  he  was  elected  an  associate 
of  the  Old  Water-Colour  Society,  in  1829  he  attained  full 
membership,  and  ultimately  in  1855  he  became  the  President. 
This  office  he  retained  only  for  twTo  years,  as  his  retirement 
took  place  early  in  1858.  He  travelled  much  on  the  Continent, 
visiting  Italy  and  Spain,  and  producing  during  his  absence  many 
fine  works  painted  in  water-colours  in  a  large  and  bold  manner, 
rich  in  colour,  and  very  varied  in  handling.  His  Spanish 
drawings  were  subsequently  lithographed  and  published  in 
1836  as  Sketches  in  Spain.  Aided  by  J.  D.  Harding  he 
also  produced  by  means  of  lithography  his  Sketches  and 
Drawings  of  the  Alhambra,  and  some  Illustrations  of  Constanti- 
nople from  drawings  by  Coke  Smith  were  arranged  and  drawn 
on  stone  by  Lewis  in  1838.    In  1843  he  proceeded  to  Cairo, 

Q  ^ 


228 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


and  remained  in  the  East  until  1851,  when  he  married  and 
settled  at  Walton-on-Thames.  His  style  of  work  about  this 
period  was  greatly  altered ;  he  adopted  a  most  minute  and 
elaborate  finish,  combined  with  great  depth  and  intensity  of 
colouring.  He  painted  many  Eastern  subjects,  and  his  works 
attracted  great  attention.  About  1854  he  recommenced  paint- 
ing in  oil,  arid  in  1858  was  elected  an  associate,  and  in  1865 
a  full  member  of  the  Royal  Academy.  Early  in  1876  he 
requested,  in  consequence  of  failing  health,  to  be  placed  on  the 
retired  list;  and  on  the  15th  of  August  of  the  same  year  he 
died  at  Walton.  His  works  which  even  in  his  lifetime  com- 
manded high  prices  have  in  recent  years  sold  for  very  large 
sums.  One  of  his  drawings,  School  at  Cairo,  was  bought  for 
£1,239  in  Mr.  Quilter's  sale  in  1875. 

We  have  been  enabled  to  reproduce  his  characteristic  work 
entitled  A  Halt  in  the  Desert,  one  of  the  Ellison  pictures  in  the 
Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington  [No.  532].  Here  we 
have  a  caravan  resting  in  the  desert.  Two  camels  are  standing 
in  the  foreground,  the  others  are  lying  about ;  the  train  of 
finely  painted  animals  and  figures  extends  into  the  distance. 
This  is  a  good  example  of  his  later  and  more  minute  style  of 
execution,  and  shows  how  carefully  he  studied  Nature  on  the 
spot,  it  is  dated  1853. 

Samuel  Palmer,  born  in  1805  in  Newington,  studied  under 
John  Yarley,  and  first  exhibited  as  an  oil  painter  at  the  Eoyal 
Academy  in  1819.  He  early  made  the  acquaintance  of  John 
Linnell,  whose  daughter  he  married  in  1837,  and  he  was 
shortly  after  introduced  by  him  to  Blake,  for  whom  he  con- 
ceived the  most  profound  veneration.  He  lived  for  a  time  at 
Shoreham,  near  Sevenoaks,  painting  rural  scenes,  being  at  that 
period  in  delicate  heath.    He  subsequently  spent  two  years  in 


SAMUEL  PALMER — G.   C.   D.  R03SETTI. 


231 


Italy,  and  in  1843  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society,  and  full  member  in  1855.  He  had  a  fine  sense 
of  colour,  and  excelled  in  glowing  effects  of  sunshine.  He  was 
a  great  admirer  of  Yirgil  and  of  Milton,  and  drew  many  of  his 
themes  from  those  poets'  works.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
Etching  Club,  and  produced  some  highly-prized  works.  Palmer 
resided  for  the  latter  part  of  his  life  at  Reigate,  and  died  there 
on  the  24th  of  May,  1881.  He  was  one  of  the  most  poetical 
painters  of  the  modern  water-colour  school,  and  though  he 
rarely  worked  from  Nature  he  had  so  stored  his  mind  with  her 
varied  aspects  that  he  could  represent  her  divers  phases  from 
the  resources  of  his  memory.  He  chose  the  same  class  of  sub- 
jects in  which  Barret  delighted ;  but  Palmer's  sunsets  differ 
wholly  from  those  of  Barret,  owing  to  their  greater  warmth 
and  glow.  He  produced  great  richness  of  effect  by  his  method 
of  contrasting  warm  and  cool  colours  throughout  the  surface  of 
his  pictures,  and  he  paid  special  attention  to  the  selection  and 
preparation  of  his  colours,  so  that  they  might  properly  assort 
together  and  not  injure  one  another  by  juxtaposition.  During 
the  last  years  of  his  life  he  was  engaged  upon  a  series  of  etch- 
ings to  illustrate  Yirgil' s  Eclogues  which  he  had  himself  trans- 
lated. These  have  since  been  completed  and  published  by  his 
son. 

An  important  place,  though  not  among  the  members  of  the 
Societies,  is  justly  due  to — 

Gabriel  Charles  Dante  Rossetti,  the  eldest  son  of 
an  eminent  Italian  poet,  who  was  born  in  London  in 
1828.  He  studied  at  Cary's,  and  later  at  the  Schools 
of  the  Royal  Academy.  His  art,  which  was  distinctly  original, 
was  known  chiefly  to  his  immediate  circle  of  admirers,  as  he 
rarely  exhibited,  and  lived  in  great  retirement  owing  to  ill- 


232 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


health.  Rossetti  was  the  mainstay  of  the  Pre-Raphaelite  school. 
He  was  a  splendid  colourist,  and  affected  a  peculiar  method  of 
drawing,  but  he  had  a  strong  sense  of  the  beautiful,  and  many 
of  his  works  are  imbued  with  deep  poetical  feeling.  Rossetti 
was,  indeed,  himself  a  poet  of  no  mean  order,  and  some  of  his 
poems,  such  as  The  Blessed  Damozel,  are  well  known.  His 
first  exhibited  work  is  said  to  have  been  The  Girlhood  of  the 
Virgin,  painted  in  1849.  For  many  years  his  pictures  were 
sent  to  the  Hogarth  Club.  His  favourite  subjects  were  taken 
from  early  Italian  poetry  and  legendary  lore.  His  works  in 
water-colours  belong  to  his  maturer  years,  dating  from  1862 
onwards.  Certain  of  his  later  designs  were  distinguished  by 
mannerisms,  which  have  been  attributed  to  ill-health.  He  died 
after  a  lingering  illness  at  Birchington-on-the-Sea,  April  8, 
1882.  Many  of  his  works  were  exhibited  at  the  Royal 
Academy  in  the  following  winter. 

Samuel  Read  was  born  at  Needham  Market,  Suffolk,  in 
1815  or  1816,  and  was  destined  for  the  legal  profession,  but 
he  early  turned  his  affection  to  art,  and  at  five-and-twenty  he 
came  to  London  and  worked  as  a  draughtsman  on  wood.  In 
1844  he  was  engaged  on  the  staff  of  the  Illustrated  London 
News,  and  acted  as  their  special  artist  in  the  Crimea  in  1853. 
He  occasionally  sent  works  to  the  Royal  Academy,  and  in 
1857  was  elected  an  associate  and  in  1880  a  member  of  the 
Old  "Water-Colour  Society.  He  painted  at  first  chiefly  the 
fine  old  buildings  on  the  Continent,  and  was  a  most  skilful 
architectural  draughtsman,  but  latterly  he  produced  many 
admirable  landscapes.  His  death  took  place  at  Sidmouth, 
May  6,  1883. 

Alfred  Pizzey  Newton  painted  Scotch  landscape  scenery 
with  great  ability,  and  was  on  more  than  one  occasion  en- 


H.   B.    WILLIS— THOMAS  DANBY — RANDOLPH  CALDECOTT.  233 


trusted  with  commissions  by  Her  Majesty  the  Queen.  He 
became  in  1858  an  associate  and  in  1879  a  full  member  of  the 
Old  Water-Colour  Society.  His  death  occurred  at  Rock 
Ferry,  near  Liverpool,  on  September  9,  1883. 

Henry  Brittan  Willis,  the  son  of  an  artist,  was  born 
in  Bristol  about  1814.  He  first  studied  under  his  father, 
who,  finding  art  unremunerative,  advised  his  son  to  enter  a 
merchant's  office  in  New  York.  Young  Willis  however  had  to 
relinquish  his  post  owing  to  ill-health,  and  again  took  up  art. 
He  practised  first  as  a  portrait  painter  in  Bristol,  but  came  to 
London  in  1843,  and  contributed  to  the  Academy  and  other 
exhibitions  until  1862,  when  he  joined  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society,  becoming  a  full  member  in  the  following  year. 
His  best  works  were  his  drawings  of  animals,  in  which  branch 
of  art  he  was  highly  proficient.  He  published  in  1849  Studies 
of  Cattle  and  Rustic  Figures.  Willis  died  at  Kensington, 
January  17,  1884. 

Thomas  Danby,  the  son  of  the  well-known  Irish  artist  of 
this  name,  was  born,  it  is  believed,  at  Bristol,  and  early  dis- 
tinguished himself  as  a  landscape  painter  of  great  power  and 
originality.  Many  years  during  his  youth  were  spent  on  the 
Continent,  whither  he  had  gone  with  his  father  in  1829.  In 
1841  the  family  returned  to  London,  and  young  Danby, 
though  he  at  first  painted  in  oil,  afterwards  made  a  name  as 
a  water-colour  painter.  In  1867  he  became  an  associate  and 
three  years  later  a  full  member  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society.  His  Welsh  somewhat  ideal  landscapes,  with  their 
quiet  lakes  and  mountain  scenery,  were  his  happiest  themes. 
He  died  March  25,  1886. 

Few  artists  of  the  modern  school  have  more  speedily 
established  a  reputation  than  Randolph  Caldecott,  who  was 


234 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


born  at  Chester  in  1846,  and  educated  at  King  Henry  VII. 's 
School  in  that  city  where  he  became  head  boy.  He  was  at 
first  employed  as  a  bank  clerk  at  Whitchurch,  Salop.  From 
thence  he  went  to  another  bank  at  Manchester,  and  at  that 
time  he  began  to  draw  for  a  local  periodical.  He  settled  in 
London  in  1872.  He  is  said  never  to  have  had  any  art  educa- 
tion, and  his  talents  as  a  book-illustrator  first  became  widely 
known  when  he  published  in  1875  his  admirable  drawings  for 
Washington  Irving's  Sketch-Book.  A  year  or  two  later  he 
at  once  gained  the  fancy  of  the  public  with  his  children's 
picture-books,  John  Gilpin,  The  House  thai  Jack  Built,  kc. 
He  also  supplied  many  designs  for  the  Christmas  numbers  of 
the  Graphic,  wherein  his  drawings  of  animals  are  inimitable.  He 
exhibited  but  rarely  at  the  public  galleries,  and  devoted  nearly 
all  his  time  to  book-illustration.  He  was  however  a  member 
of  the  New  Water-Colour  Society.  He  was  an  expert  modeller, 
and  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1876  he  exhibited  a  bas-relief 
of  a  Horse  Fair  in  Brittany.  His  huntiug  scenes  in  water- 
colours  are  admirably  drawn,  and  he  was  also  an  excellent 
colourist.  A  small  collection  of  his  drawings  has  been  secured  for 
the  Historical  Collection  at  South  Kensington.  He  struggled 
bravely  throughout  life  with  an  affection  of  the  heart  which  ren- 
dered movement,  other  than  horse  exercise,  a  matter  of  great 
difficulty  to  him.  He  died  in  Florida,  whither  he  had  gone 
to  seek  relief  from  his  ailment,  February  12,  1886,  at  the 
early  age  of  forty. 

Philip  Henry  Delamotte,  a  son  of  William  Delamotte, 
mentioned  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was  the  author  of  several 
excellent  works  on  water-colour  painting,  and  was  for  thirty- 
five  years  Professor  of  Drawing  at  King's  College,  London. 
He  also  taught  drawing  to  the  daughters  of  the  Prince  of 


T.   M.   RICHARDSON  W.   GOODALL — F.  TAYLER.  235 


Wales.  He  was  born  at  Sandhurst,  April  17,  1821,  and  died 
at  Bromley,  Kent,  February  24,  1889. 

Thomas  Miles  Richardson  was  a  son  of  the  water-colour 
painter  of  the  same  name,  whose  memoir  will  be  found  on 
page  152.  He  was  born  in  1813,  and  came  to  London  after 
painting  for  a  while  both  in  oil  and  water-colours  in  New- 
castle, his  birthplace.  He  was  elected  an  associate  of  the  Old 
Water-Colour  Society  in  1843  and  a  full  member  in  1851. 
He  was  a  prolific  contributor  of  landscape  scenery  to  the 
Gallery,  painted  at  home  and  on  the  Continent.  This  he 
treated  in  a  bright  and  attractive  style,  with  well-placed 
groups  of  figures  and  animals.  He  died,  after  being  for  some 
years  in  feeble  health,  on  January  5,  1890. 

Walter  Good  all,  born  November  6th,  1830,  studied  at  the 
Government  School  of  Design  and  at  the  Royal  Academy, 
and  after  exhibiting  water-colour  drawings  at  the  Academy, 
he  was  in  1853  elected  an  associate  and  in  1861  a  member  of 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society.  He  painted  scenes  from  rural 
life  with  much  taste  and  his  colouring  was  simple  and  effective. 
After  being  seized  with  paralysis  about  1875  he  had  to  give  up 
painting  almost  entirely,  and  his  death  took  place  at  Clapham, 
near  Bedford,  in  1889. 

Frederick  Tayler,  who  was  born  at  Barham  Wood,  near 
Elstree,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1804,  was  educated  for  his  pro- 
fession in  Sass's  Academy  in  Bloomsbury,  became  a  student  of 
the  Royal  Academy,  subsequently  proceeded  to  Paris  to  work 
under  Horace  Yernet,  and  went  also  to  study  in  Rome.  While 
in  Paris  he  shared  a  studio  with  his  friend  and  companion 
Bonington,  which  had  belonged  to  Vernet.  His  first 
picture,  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  in  1830 — The 
Band  of  the    2nd    Life    Guards — was  in  oil,  but   in  the 


236 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


following  year  he  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water- 
Colour  Society,  and  in  1834  was  elected  a  member.  He  was 
made  President  of  the  Society,  in  succession  to  Lewis,  in  1858, 
and  filled  the  office  with  distinction  until  1871,  when  he 
resigned  in  favour  of  Sir  John  Gilbert,  but  still  continued  to 
paint  with  rare  skill.  After  spending  some  time,  as  we  have 
seen,  in  France  and  Italy,  he  went  to  Scotland,  and  produced 
some  excellent  pictures  of  Highland  subjects.  He  was  a  good 
horseman  and  a  keen  sportsman,  and  depicted  animal  subjects 
with  knowledge  and  enthusiasm.  His  dogs  and  horses  were  admir- 
ably drawn,  and  his  work  elicited  high  praise  from  Ruskin, 
who  wrote  in  his  Modem  Painters  : — "  There  are  few  drawings 
of  the  present  day  that  involve  greater  sensation  of  power 
than  those  of  Frederick  Tayler.  Every  stroke  tells,  and  the 
quantity  of  effect  obtained  is  enormous  in  proportion  to  the 
apparent  means."  Though  the  context  somewhat  justifies 
these  very  laudatory  remarks,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
this  master  of  art  criticism  entertained  a  high  opinion  of 
Tayler' s  ability.  We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  represent 
him  by  one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  his  studies  of  animals, 
The  Otter  Hounds,  a  group  of  four  dogs,  probably  portraits. 
This  fine  work  was  presented  by  Mrs.  Ellison  to  the  Historical 
Collection  at  Kensington  [No.  544].  The  brush-work  deserves 
to  rank  with  that  of  Landseer,  and  the  drawing  is  executed, 
mainly  in  transparent  colour,  with  a  power  and  directness  which 
speak  the  hand  of  a  true  artist.  Tayler  delighted  in  hawking 
and  hunting  scenes,  he  clothed  his  figures  in  the  gay  and  ap- 
propriate costumes  of  the  past,  and  he  was  most  happy  in  his 
landscape  backgrounds.  His  colouring  is  delicate  and  pure,  and 
he  was  able  with  apparently  slight  effort  to  give  great  breadth  of 
effect.    He  was  a  valued  member  of  the  Etching  Club,  and  he 


PAUL  JACOB  NAFTTCL. 


239 


worked  diligently  as  a  book-illustrator.  Many  of  his 
pictures  have  been  engraved.  Tayler  died  June  20,  1889, 
and  was  buried  in  Hampstead  Cemetery.  His  collection  of 
etchings  and  engravings,  and  also  his  remaining  drawings  and 
sketches  were  sold  at  Christie's  in  the  following  year. 

Paul  Jacob  Naftel,  born  in  1815,  was  a  native  of  the 
Channel  Islands,  and  did  not  come  to  this  country  to  reside 
until  1870,  previous  to  which  time  he  had  worked  mainly  as 
a  teacher.  He  became  an  associate  of  the  Old  Water-Colour 
Society  in  1850  and  was  elected  a  member  in  1859.  He  was 
much  employed  in  teaching,  but  found  time  also  to  send 
numerous  drawings  to  the  Exhibition.  He  delighted  in  the 
landscape  scenery  of  the  Channel  Islands,  and  he  was  greatly 
addicted  in  his  drawings  to  the  use  of  body  colour.  His 
death  took  place  at  Strawberry  Hill  in  September  1891.  His 
only  daughter,  Miss  Maud  Naftel,  was  also  an  associate  of 
the  Old  Water-Colour  Society. 


CHAPTER  XYI. 


Collections  of  Water  Colour  Drawings  in  England — The  South 
Kensington  Museum — Drawings  by  Constable  and  Mul- 
ready — The  Sheepshanks  Collection — The  Ellison  Bequest — 
The  William  Smith  Bequest — The  Historical  Collection  of 
Water-Colour  Drawings — The  Print  Room  of  the  British 
Museum — Water-Colour  Drawings  in  the  National  Gallery 
— Turner's  "  Liber  Studiorum  " — Drawings  by  De  Wint 
and  Cattermole — The  Gallery  of  British  Art. 

It  may  be  useful,  before  we  bring  this  concise  account  of 
the  art  of  water-colour  painting  to  a  close,  to  glance  at  the 
principal  collections  of  drawings  in  this  country  available  for 
public  study,  and  to  point  out  the  nature  of  their  contents, 
and  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  brought  together. 
We  think  that  in  this  special  branch  of  art  we  shall  be 
justified  in  giving  the  first  place  to  the  collections  at  the 
South  Kensington  Museum. 

The  founder  of  this  section  of  the  Art  Museum  was  Mr. 
John  Sheepshanks,  who  in  1857  presented  his  magnificent 
gallery  of  pictures  to  the  nation.  A  few  drawings  and 
sketches  were  included  with  the  oil  paintings,  and  certain  of 
these  studies  are  of  peculiar  interest  to  the  art  student, 


SHEEPSHANKS  COLLECTION  AT  SOUTH  KENSINGTON.  241 


because  in  many  cases  they  indicate  the  steps  by  which  the 
painter  thought  out  his  subject  and  combined  the  various 
incidents  into  a  perfect  whole.  We  have  drawings  of  figures, 
blots  of  colour  to  show  the  masses  of  light  and  shade,  studies 
of  extremities,  some  of  them  carefully  finished  to  serve  the 
artist  when  painting  at  the  easel,  and  minute  drawings  to 
show  arrangements  of  drapery  and  other  details.  The  collec- 
tion of  water-colour  drawings  by  J ohn  Constable  affords  many 
examples  of  these  artists'  studies,  some  of  them  of  the  utmost 
value. 

From  the  facility  with  which  water-colours  can  be  handled, 
artists  have  always  shown  a  preference  for  this  medium  for 
their  preliminary  studies,  and  many  of  our  most  eminent  oil 
painters  made  an  invariable  practice  of  beginning  their  more 
important  works  by  a  series  of  small  sketches  of  this  kind- 
The  author's  father,  in  his  introductory  notes  to  the  Catalogue 
of  the  Water-Colour  Paintings,  says  :  "  In  view  of  the  interest 
which  thus  attaches  to  such  studies  it  is  to  be  hoped  that 
opportunities  may  hereafter  occur  of  still  further  increasing 
in  this  direction  the  value  of  Mr.  Sheepshanks'  gift  by  obtain- 
ing as  far  as  possible  all  the  sketches  and  drawings  for  at 
least  a  few  of  the  principal  pictures  comprised  in  this  national 
collection." 

Some  such  sketches  were  obtained  from  Mr.  Mulready  and 
others,  and  from  time  to  time  the  collection  was  added  to,  but 
shortly  after  it  was  transferred  to  South  Kensington  it  was 
'  decided  to  form  an  historical  series  of  paintings  in  water- 
colours,  to  illustrate  the  progress  of  the  art.  That  such 
should  be  the  case  was  indeed  Mr.  Sheepshanks'  expressed 
intention  in  presenting  during  his  lifetime  his  pictures  to  the 
nation.  His  wish  was  that  they  should  form  the  nucleus  of  a 
national  collection  of  works  both  in  oil  and  water-colours. 

R 


242 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


He  did  not  desire  that  his  pictures  should  in  any  way  be  kept 
apart,  but  that  they  should  be  merged  into  an  "  Historical 
Series  of  Pictures  by  British  Artists." 

The  first  important  donation  of  water-colour  drawings  was 
the  gift  of  Mrs.  Ellison,  of  Sudbrooke  Holme,  in  1860,  of 
fifty-one  fine  works.  This  collection  was  expressly  stated  to 
have  been  presented  for  public  instruction  and  for  the  forma- 
tion of  the  contemplated  historical  series,  as  also  in  order  to 
comply  with  the  wishes  of  her  late  husband,  who  was  a  well 
known  connoisseur.  At  the  death  of  Mrs.  Ellison  in  May,  1873 
the  number  was  raised  to  100  drawings  by  the  selection  of  forty- 
nine  additional  works,  all  of  them  of  the  greatest  value  and 
importance.  This  series  of  drawings  by  Barret,  Cattermole, 
De  Wint,  Duncan,  Copley  Fielding,  Haghe,  Hunt,  Lewis, 
Mackenzie,  Nash,  Prout,  Robson,  Tayler,  Topham,  and  others, 
was  rich  in  those  masters  whose  works  occupied  a  prominent 
place  in  public  estimation.  They  were  without  exception  large 
and  highly  finished  works,  purchased  in  most  cases  from  the 
artists,  and  thus  presented  an  admirable  illustration  of  the 
more  recent  practice  of  the  art. 

Following  the  acquisition  of  the  first  portion  of  Mrs. 
Ellison's  drawings  came  the  liberal  offer  in  1871,  by  the  late 
Mr.  William  Smith,  F.S.  A.,  to  allow  a  selection  to  be  made  from 
his  collection  of  water-colour  paintings  of  any  works  produced 
prior  to  1806,  as  a  gift  towards  the  completion  up  to  that 
date  of  the  historical  collection.  In  this  way  eighty-six  rare 
and  early  drawings  were  added  to  the  series,  and  by  his  will, 
dated  July  23rd,  1872,  a  further  number  of  works  were  re- 
ceived, raising  the  total  donation  to  222  drawings.  Mr. 
Smith's  death  took  place  in  1876,  and  during  the  last  few 
years  of  his  life  he  rendered  most  valuable  services  in  the 
arrangement  and  selection  of  the  water-colour  collections,  his 


ELLISON  BEQUEST  WILLIAM  SMITH  BEQUEST.  243 

knowledge  of  the  works  of  the  early  masters  being  always 
available  to  the  officers  of  the  department.  Among  the  most 
prominent  of  the  artists  whose  works  were  represented  in  the 
"  William  Smith  Gift  and  Bequest "  were  Atkinson,  Callow, 
Chambers,  Cleveley,  Cotman,  Cox,  Cristall,  Daniell,  Dayes, 
Edridge,  Copley  Fielding,  Francia,  Girtin,  Gresse,  Grimm, 
Hearne,  Hills,  Holland,  Malton,  Marlow,  Mortimer,  Nichol- 
son, S.  Prout,  Hooker,  Rowlandson,  Turner,  J.  Yarley, 
Wheatley,  and  C.  Wild.  Coming  at  the  time  it  did  this 
collection  was  of  the  greatest  possible  service  in  securing  a 
continuity  of  the  series  of  drawings,  and  in  enabling  the 
visitor  to  obtain  a  correct  impression  of  the  art  from  its  origin 
in  this  country  down  to  the  most  recent  times. 

The  Dixon  bequest  of  water-colour  drawings,  to  the  number 
of  170,  was  specially  made  to  the  Bethnal  Green  Branch 
Museum,  and  it  is  not  therefore  included  in  the  historical 
series.  Mr.  Dixon  died  on  December  7th,  1885.  The  works 
were  mostly  of  the  more  modern  period,  covered  by  the  dona- 
tions of  Mrs.  Ellison,  but  many  fine  drawings  by  artists  not 
represented  at  South  Kensington  may  be  studied  with  ad- 
vantage at  the  East  London  Museum. 

On  the  death  of  Miss  Isabel  Constable  in  1888  the  Ken- 
sington Museum  acquired  no  less  than  403  sketches  in  water- 
colours,  Indian  ink,  pencil,  &c,  by  John  Constable,  B.A.,  her 
father.  These  are  studies  from  nature,  embracing  a  wide 
variety  of  subjects,  and  most  interesting  as  showing  the 
methods  in  which  a  most  distinguished  painter  and  one  of 
the  greatest  masters  of  landscape  in  the  English  School  was 
wont  to  prepare  himself  for  his  more  important  pictures  by 
the  careful  observation  of  minute  details,  out  of  doors. 

The  latest  and  by  no  means  the  least  valuable  acquisition  to 

this  branch  of  the  museum  is  a  collection  of  fifty  water-colour 

R  2 


244 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


drawings  bequeathed  by  the  late  Sir  Prescott  G.  Hewett,  Bart., 
himself  an  amateur  of  no  mean  skill,  and  a  great  admirer  of 
the  art.  At  the  time  we  write  these  works  have  not  yet  been 
publicly  displayed  at  South  Kensington. 

We  should  not  omit  to  mention  that  in  the  munificent 
bequest  in  1868  by  the  Rev.  Chauncy  Hare  Townshend  of  his 
library  and  art  works  there  were  many  important  English  and 
foreign  water-colour  drawings.  Some  fine  water-colours  are 
comprised  in  the  Jones  collection,  and  the  bequest  of  Mr. 
J.  M.  Parsons  in  1870  contained  forty-seven  water-colour 
drawings,  some  of  them  by  eminent  artists. 

The  series  of  works,  made  up  to  a  great  extent  of  the  fore- 
going benefactions  has  been  from  time  to  time  supplemented 
by  the  judicious  purchase  of  representative  drawings,  both  of 
the  earlier  masters  and  also  of  contemporary  artists,  and  the 
"  Historical  Collection  "  displayed  in  the  three  galleries  of  the 
South  Kensington  Museum  furnishes  the  student  with  a  com 
prehensive  view  of  the  art  in  all  its  different  phases,  from  the 
tempera  painting  of  Zuccarelli  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century  to  a  small  but  interesting  selection  of  the  works  of 
the  recently  deceased  Randolph  Caldecott.  The  drawings  are 
arranged  grouped  together  under  the  names  of  the  painters  as 
far  as  possible  in  strict  historical  sequence,  and  seen  in  this 
way  it  is  easy  to  trace  the  development  of  this  branch  of  art 
from  its  origin  in  the  early  tinted  works  of  the  topographers 
down  to  the  richly-coloured  drawings  of  the  present  day. 
There  is  perhaps  a  certain  want  of  scale  and  proportion  in  the 
representation,  due  in  some  degree  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  collection  has  been  brought  together,  but  this  is  an  evil 
which  time  will  dispel,  as  the  superabundant  drawings  are 
being  gradually  handed  over  to  the  section  of  the  museum 
entrusted  with  the  circulation  of  art  works  to  the  provincial 


PRINT  ROOM  OF  THE  BRITISH  MUSEUM. 


galleries,  and  the  gaps  are  being  steadily  filled  by  means  of 
purchases  or  donations. 

Second  only  in  importance  to  the  collections  we  have  just 
described  is  the  department  of  drawings  and  sketches  attached 
to  the  Print  Room  of  the  British  Museum.  The  foundation 
of  that  collection  is  due  to  the  successive  bequests  of  Sir  Hans 
Sloane,  the  Rev.  C.  M.  Cracherode,  and  Mr.  Payne  Knight, 
and  the  gift  of  Mr.  W.  Fawkener.  Among  the  donations  of 
more  recent  date  are  the  invaluable  drawings  of  David  Cox, 
Muller,  and  Turner,  presented  by  Mr.  John  Henderson,  the 
large  series  of  works  by  her  father,  John  Constable,  R.A., 
bequeathed  by  Miss  Isabel  Constable,  and  benefactions  by 
Miss  Moore,  Mrs.  Roget,  Mr.  S.  Calvert,  and  others. 

In  Mr.  Sidney  Colvin's  preface  to  the  recently  issued  Guide 
to  the  Exhibition  of  Drawings  and  Sketches  it  is  pointed  out 
that — "  In  developing  and  maintaining  the  collection  by  pur- 
chase, the  principle  adopted  has  been  to  make  it  as  complete 
for  purposes  of  historical  study  as  means  and  opportunities 
allowed.  With  that  view  there  have  been  added  from  time 
to  time  specimens  by  the  chief  masters  of  the  Continental 
Schools  at  all  periods  of  their  history,  and  particularly  by 
every  hand  of  note  in  the  British  School ;  so  that  no  name 
mentioned  in  the  annals  of  our  native  art,  or  at  any  rate  as 
few  as  possible,  may  remain  unillustrated.  As  a  general 
rule  these  specimens  are  in  the  form  of  direct  studies  from, 
nature,  or  first  sketches  for  compositions  in  which  the 
artist's  individuality  often  most  intimately  reveals  itself, 
rather  than  in  that  of  finished  works ;  but  this  rule  is 
subject  to  exceptions,  especially  in  the  cases  of  British  water 
colour  painters. " 

The  catalogue  of  the  collection  is  in  manuscript,  and  includes 
all  the  engravings,  prints,  and  drawings  of  the  English  School, 


246 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


so  that  the  student  of  water-colour  art  has  to  select  the  names 
of  masters  dispersed  through  many  folio  volumes,  no  special 
classification  of  water-colour  drawings  having  as  yet  been 
attempted. 

The  water-colour  drawings  belonging  to  the  Print  Room  of 
the  British  Museum  are  contained  in  large  book  boxes  arranged 
round  the  upper  part  of  the  gallery.  The  boxes  are  placed  in 
a  horizontal  position,  and  as  a  rule  contain  from  fifteen  to 
twenty-five  drawings,  mounted  on  cardboard  and  carefully 
named  and  labelled.  They  are  thus  preserved  from  all  dangers 
of  fading  and  are  very  accessible  for  purposes  of  study,  though 
they  cannot  be  seen  by  the  public  so  readily  as  they  would  be 
if  framed  and  arranged  on  the  walls  of  a  picture  gallery.  This 
is  to  some  extent  atoned  for  by  the  display  of  a  small  selection 
of  the  works  in  the  so-called  "  Print  and  Drawing  Gallery.' ' 
Here  a  representative  series  of  works  have  been  placed  behind 
glass  in  wall  and  desk  cases,  giving  an  apergu  of  the  entire 
subject  "  from  the  period  of  the  revival  of  the  art  of  painting 
in  Europe,  i.e.,  about  1400  a.d.  until  our  own  day,  the  art  of 
living  artists  being  excluded.' '  A  considerable  section  of  the 
works  here  shown  belong  to  continental  schools,  or  to  a  period 
prior  to  that  of  which  we  have  undertaken  to  treat,  but  the 
student  having  in  his  hand  the  excellent  Guide,  to  which  we 
have  already  referred,  will  here  find  a  most  valuable  illustra- 
tion of  the  art,  conveniently  displayed  for  the  purpose  of 
reference  and  study.  More  especially  is  the  art  of  the  end 
of  the  last  century  to  be  here  seen  to  advantage  in  the  works 
of  Flaxman,  Stothard,  Downman,  Ibbetson,  Rowlandson,  Mor- 
land,  James  Ward,  Chinnery,  Hearne,  and  Edridge.  Passing 
on  to  the  modern  period  we  find  a  comprehensive  series  of 
sketches  by  P.  S.  Munn,  Constable,  Eeynolds,  De  Wint,  Prout, 
Cox,  J .  F.  Lewis,  Calvert,  and  others ;  the  group  of  book  illus- 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTINGS  IN  NATTONAL  GALLERY.  247 


trators — H.  K.  Browne,  Doyle,  Leech,  and  Caldecott — being 
here  well  represented. 

Though  water-colour  drawings  have  not  been  made  a  special 
feature  at  the  National  Gallery,  the  mere  fact  of  the  posses- 
sion of  the  grand  series  of  sketches  bequeathed  by  Turner  will 
render  this  collection  most  attractive  to  the  student  of  this 
branch  of  art.  We  wish  we  were  able  to  state  that  the  Turner 
drawings  were  well  seen  and  well  lighted  in  the  galleries  at 
Trafalgar  Square,  but  it  is  only  on  a  fine  bright  day  that  they 
can  be  properly  studied  in  the  four  small  rooms  devoted  to 
them  in  the  eastern  basement — we  beg  pardon,  "  ground-floor 
rooms."  Foremost  in  importance  among  these  works  are  the 
fifty-one  drawings  in  sepia  for  the  Liber  Studiorum.  This 
work,  as  is  well  known,  was  undertaken  by  Turner  to  emulate 
Claude's  Liber  Ver (talis.  The  drawings  here  shown  were  after- 
wards outlined  on  soft  plates  and  aqua-tinted,  many  of  them 
by  Turner  himself,  and  were  published  in  numbers  from  the 
year  1807  until  1819.  With  these  works  are  exhibited  a 
number  of  early  sketches,  arranged  as  far  as  practicable  in 
chronological  order  and  classified  under  three  periods.  More 
than  200  sketches  are  here  shown,  ranging  from  finished 
drawings  to  the  merest  pencil  outlines,  some  of  them  on  both 
sides  of  the  paper. 

In  the  rooms  on  the  western  side  of  the  building  are  the 
twenty-three  drawings  by  De  Wint  and  ten  by  Cattermole, 
bequeathed  by  the  late  Mr.  John  Henderson,  and  with  them 
is  placed  the  fine  drawing  by  Louis  Haghe,  the  Council  of 
War  at  Courtray,  the  only  water-colour,  we  believe,  in  the 
Yernon  Collection.  The  De  Wint  drawings  are  for  the 
most  part  sketches,  but  three  or  four  of  them  are  highly 
finished  works,  notably  the  Bray  on  the  Thames,  for  which 
also  the  first  sketch  is  here  preserved,  the  Bridge  over  the 


248 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


Wytham,  and  Lincoln  Cathedral.  In  a  second  room  are  some 
studies  by  Gainsborough,  Cattermole,  Stothard,  and  others, 
and  a  few  drawings  recently  presented  by  Miss  Gordon. 

This  completes  the  record  of  our  national  treasures  of  this 
art,  so  peculiar  to  our  own  country,  but  even  while  we  write 
there  are  rumours  of  yet  another  Gallery  of  British  Art ;  a  sort  of 
Luxembourg  Palace,  in  which  are  to  be  brought  together  under 
one  roof  the  collections  now  dispersed  over  so  wide  an  area. 

The  plan  has  on  the  face  of  it  many  advantages  and  much 
to  commend  it,  but  it  is  we  fear  not  likely  to  see  fruition. 
Some  of  the  collections  would  not  be  parted  with  to  any 
foreign  body,  however  constituted,  without  a  struggle,  and 
some  of  the  works  of  art  cannot  be  dissociated  from  their 
present  habitat  without  doing  violence  to  the  express  direc- 
tions of  generous  donors.  If  Parliament  were  willing  to  inter- 
fere and  to  set  aside  the  wishes  of  a  Sheepshanks  or  a 
Townshend,  it  would  not  be  likely  to  produce  a  good  effect 
in  the  minds  of  other  possible  donors  of  art  treasures,  and  in 
our  opinion  it  is  better  to  let  well  alone  and  to  leave  matters 
as  they  are.  Still  we  hope  that  before  long  steps  may  be 
taken  to  strengthen  and  improve  the  representation  of  British 
art  in  our  national  collections.  Much  has  been  done  in  the 
past  by  private  liberality,  but  much  remains  to  be  done  by 
the  State  if  the  fine  arts  of  this  country  are  to  be  adequately 
represented.  Other  nations  have  shown  us  what  is  possible, 
and  wealthy  England  ought  not  to  be  worse  off  in  this  respect 
than  are  her  neighbours.  It  must  be  remembered  that  each 
year  of  delay  means  increased  difficulty  and  increased  cost  in 
obtaining  fine  examples  of  the  art  of  the  masters  of  our  earlier 
School.  Let  us  hope  that  ere  the  present  century  comes  to  an 
end  the  works  of  English  painters  may  be  fairly  studied  in  a 
truly  "  National  Gallery,"  specially  set  apart  for  the  purpose. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Materials  used  by  Water-Colour  Artists — Permanence  of  Water- 
Colour  Drawings — Experiments  made —Reports  from  a 
Committee  of  Experts — The  Stability  of  Single  Colours  and 
Mixed  Colours — General  Conclusion. 

Having  in  the  foregoing  account  of  the  rise  and  progress 
of  water-colour  painting  attempted  to  describe  the  development 
of  the  art,  and  to  give  a  few  particulars  concerning  the  lives 
of  some  of  its  chief  exponents  in  this  country,  we  propose  in 
this  final  chapter  to  glance  at  the  materials  used  by  artists  in 
the  past,  and  to  discuss  very  briefly  the  vexed  question  of 
the  permanence  of  water-colour  drawings,  a  matter  of  vast 
importance  to  all  who  are  interested  in  this  branch  of 
painting. 

The  artist's  palette  in  the  time  of  Hilliard  was  an  extremely 
limited  one,  and  consisted  of  certain  pigments,  which  Salmon, 
in  his  Polygraphice,  writing,  it  is  true,  much  later — sums  up  as 
seven  in  number,  "  white,  black,  red,  green,  yellow,  blue,  and 
brown,"  but  he  proceeds  to  show  many  varieties  of  each 
colour.  Thus  he  tells  us  the  chief  whites  are  "  spodium, 
ceruse,  white  lead,  Spanish  white,  egg-shells  burnt'' ;  in  blacks 
he  distinguishes  "  hartshorn  burnt,  ivory  burnt,  cherrystones 


250 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


burnt,  lamp-black,  charcoal,  sea-coal,  verditer  burnt,  mummy 
burnt  "  ;  he  enumerates  eight  reds,  six  greens,  eight  yellows, 
four  blues,  viz.  "  ultramarine,  indico,  smalt,  and  blue  bice," 
and  six  browns.     Salmon  points  out,  however,  that  "  Ver- 
million, verdigriese,  orpiment,  and  some  others  are  too  coarse 
and  gritty  to  be  used  in  water-colours  unless  they  be  purified 
and   prepared,    and   turnsole,    litmose    blue,   roset,  brasil, 
logwood,  and  saffron  are  more  fib  for  washing  prints  than 
curious  limning. "     Salmon  wrote  about  the  close  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  his   directions  for  limning  and 
painting  are  very  precise.    It  is  clear  that  at  that  date  the 
painter  had  to  rely  upon  the  home  preparation  of  all  his 
colours,  and  if  he  followed  the  instructions  given  in  the 
Polygraphice,  in  the  eighteenth  chapter  of  the  second  book,  for 
each  of  them,  he  must  have  spent  a  great  part  of  his  time  in 
the  work.    Here,  for  instance,  is  the  mode  of  preparing  "  blue 
bice  :  grind  it  with  clean  water  as  small  as  you  can,  then  put 
it  into  a  shell,  and  wa  sh  it  thus  :  put  as  much  water  as  will 
fill  up  the  vessel  or  shell,  and  stir  it  well,  let  it  stand  an  hour, 
and  the  filth  and  dirty  water  cast  away ;  then  put  in  more 
clean  water  ;  do  thus  four  or  five  times.    At  last  put  in  gum- 
arabick  water,  somewhat  weak,  that  the  bice  may  fall  to  the 
bottom ;  pour  off  the  gum- water  and  put  more  to  it ;  wash  it 
again,  dry  it,  and  mix  it  with  weak  gum-water  (if  you  would 
have  it  rise  of  the  same  colour),  but  with  a  stiff  water  of 
gum-lake  if  you  would  have  it  a  most  perfect  blue ;  if  a  light 
blue,  grind  it  with  a  little  ceruse ;  but  if  a  most  deep  blue, 
add  water  of  litmose." 

In  the  third  book  of  this  curious  treatise  are  very  minute 
directions  for  "  washing  landskips,"  and  concerning  the 
necessary  colours  for  the  work. 


MATERIALS  USED  BY  WATER-COLOUR  ARTISTS.  251 


Thus  we  are  told  :  "  For  the  saddest  hills  use  umber  burnt  ; 
for  the  lightest  places  put  yellow  to  the  burnt  umber ;  for  other 
hills  lay  copper  green,  thickened  on  the  fire  or  in  the  sun. 
For  the  next  hills  farther  off  mix  yellow  berries  with  copper 
green  :  let  the  fourth  part  be  done  with  green  verditure  ;  and 
the  furthest  and  faintest  places  with  blew  bice,  or  blew  verditure 
mingled  with  white,  and  shadowed  with  blew  verditure  in  the 
shadows  indifferent  thick.' '  Similar  rules  follow  for  highways, 
rocks,  water,  buildings,  &c. 

In  the  Art  of  Drawing  and  Painting  in  Water-Colours, 
published  in  1770,  the  writer  still  keeps  to  the  traditional 
seven  colours,  and  names  them  as  "  white,  yellow,  orange,  red, 
purple,  blue,  and  black";  he  also  gives  rules  for  their  pre- 
paration, almost  as  cumbrous  as  those  of  Salmon ;  but  it  has 
been  pointed  out  that  in  1776,  Mat  Darley,  the  well-known 
engraver  and  print-seller,  included  in  his  advertisements, 
"  Transparent  colours  for  staining  drawings."  This  is,  we 
think,  the  origin  of  the  artists'  colourman's  trade.  A  few 
years  later,  the  Messrs.  Reeves  took  in  hand  the  preparation 
of  colours  in  cakes  for  artists'  use,  and  in  1781  the  greatei 
silver  palette  of  the  Society  of  Arts  was  awarded  to  Messrs. 
Thomas  and  William  Eeeves  for  their  "improved  water-colours." 
These  early  cake  colours  were  very  hard  and  difficult  to  rub, 
but  the  French  manufacturers  soon  found  that  by  grinding  up 
the  colours  with  honey,  a  soft  pigment  could  be  produced, 
which  they  termed  "  couleur  de  miel"  and  which  could  be 
preserved  in  this  condition  for  a  lengthened  period,  and 
thus  arose  the  so-called  "moist  colours"  of  our  English 
makers.  We  believe  that  the  Messrs.  Eoberson,  of  Long 
Acre,  were  the  first  to  introduce  these  colours,  but  for 
many  years  the  cake  colours  of  Messrs.  Eeeves  held  their 


252 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


own,  and  were  used  by  the  whole  fraternity  of  artists  in 
this  country. 

About  1832,  Messrs.  Winsor  and  Newton  employed  metal 
tules  for  the  moist  colours,  similar  to  those  used  for  oil 
paints,  and  numerous  improvements  in  the  preparation  and 
manufacture  of  colours  took  place.  Many  artists  introduced 
special  tints,  and  as  new  colouring  matters  were  discovered 
the  range  of  the  palette  was  greatly  extended.  In  some 
recent  experiments,  noted  in  the  Re/port  on  the  Action  of  Light 
on  Water-Colours,  thirty-nine  separate  pigments  are  enumer- 
ated, and  by  the  mixture  of  these  to  produce  secondary  tints 
an  almost  infinite  gradation  can  be  secured.  The  mixture 
with  sugar  and  honey  gave  rise  to  certain  inconveniences, 
especially  for  sketching  out  of  doors  from  Nature,  as  it 
exposed  the  artist  and  his  work  to  the  attention  of  flies,1  and 
the  adoption  of  this  vehicle,  and  even  the  employment  of  gum 
for  consolidating  the  cakes,  rendered  the  painting  liable  to 
suffer  from  damp  and  mould.  In  recent  times  the  use  of 
glycerine  in  place  of  sugar  has,  we  believe,  rendered  the 
colours  free  from  this  danger. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  art  the  only  paper  obtainable  was 
of  very  inferior  quality  and  in  small  sheets.  For  large  and 
important  works  it  was  therefore  necessary  to  join  several 
sheets  together,  and  this  led  to  the  need  of  unsightly  seams. 
Most  of  the  paper  was  of  the  quality  known  as  "wire-laid," 
prepared  for  writing  in  ink,  and  folded  into  quires,  and  here 
again  the  mark  of  the  fold  was  often  a  cause  of  disfigurement 
to  the  drawing,  as  it  caused  the  colour  to  soak  in  more 
abundantly,  and  thus  produced  a  dark  stain.  Girtin,  as  we  have 

1  To  guard  against  this  the  author  of  Art's  Companion,  publisher!  in 
1749,  advocated  the  use  of  coloquintida. 


PAPER  USED  BY  WATER  COLOUR  ARTISTS. 


253 


seen,  used  this  kind  of  paper,  and  Turner  also  employed  a 
somewhat  similar  paper  in  his  earlier  work.  Subsequently  a 
common  white  cartridge  paper  was  prepared  for  artists'  use, 
and  was  largely  employed ;  but  the  size  on  this  description  of 
paper  yielded  to  the  washing  process  advocated  by  Paul 
Sandby,  and  the  surface  was  speedily  destroyed.  Early  in  the 
present  century  very  considerable  improvements  in  the  manu- 
facture of  paper  were  introduced  by  Messrs.  Creswick,  Messrs. 
Whatman, and  other  makers,  and  a  hand-made  "  vellum  paper," 
with  a  good  rough  surface  and  abundance  of  size,  capable  of 
being  supplied  in  large  sheets,  furnished  the  artist  with  a 
reliable  material  on  which  to  work,  and  did  excellent  service  to 
the  progress  of  the  art.  This  paper  would  "  take  the  colour  " 
well  as  it  flowed  from  the  brush,  and  retain  it  until  it  dried 
with  lustre  and  sharpness  at  the  edges  of  the  wash.  There  was 
none  of  the  absorbency,  due  to  a  deficiency  of  size,  inherent  in 
the  earlier  descriptions  of  paper,  and  the  artist  could  lay  in  his 
skies  with  bold  washes  and  work  with  a  freedom  impossible  in 
the  case  of  cartridge  paper.  Messrs.  Creswick  moreover  pro- 
duced sheets  of  uniformly  toned  paper,  and  papers  in  various 
qualities  and  textures  to  suit  the  requirements  of  the  pro- 
fession. The  earlier  papers  suffered  much  from  defects  in 
the  rags  and  other  substances  employed  in  their  manufacture ; 
spots  of  iron-mould  gave  rise  to  ugly  stains  and  blotches,  some 
of  which  did  not  become  manifest  until  the  work  was  com- 
pleted, and  the  artist  was,  so  to  speak,  at  the  mercy  of  the 
paper-maker.  So  much  was  this  the  case,  that  Ruskin,  in  one 
of  his  Manchester  lectures,  advocated  that  the  Government 
should  undertake  the  manufacture  of  a  perfectly  pure  paper 
made  from  linen  rags  of  the  highest  possible  quality,  and 
should  stamp  each  sheet  so  made. 


254 


WATER-COLOUR   PAINTING   IN  ENGLAND. 


Harding  had  a  certain  description  of  hard-grained  cartridge 
paper  specially  made  for  him  by  Messrs.  Whatman,  and  this  was 
marked  with  his  initials  J.  D.  H.,  impressed  at  one  corner  in 
cursive  handwriting,  but  generally  the  water-mark  of  one 
of  the  makers  we  have  named  is  regarded  as  a  sufficient  proof 
of  excellence. 

The  beautiful  art  of  the  water-colour  painter  is  thus,  as  we 
have  seen,  liable  to  many  risks  from  defective  pigments  and 
imperfectly  made  paper,  though  in  both  respects  the  materials 
have  in  recent  times  been  vastly  improved ;  but  within  the 
past  few  years  grave  doubts  have  been  publicly  expressed 
concerning  the  durability  of  water-colour  paintings,  and  to 
allay  public  apprehension,  as  also  to  elicit  the  best  scientific 
evidence  upon  this  question,  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  of 
Council  on  Education,  in  April,  1886,  requested  Dr.  Russell, 
F.R.S.,  and  Captain  Abney,  R.E.,  F.R.S.,  to  carry  out  an 
exhaustive  series  of  experiments  on  the  action  of  light  on 
water-colour  drawings.  Shortly  afterwards  a  resolution  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  Painters  in  Water-Colours  was  received, 
urging  "  the  desirability  in  the  interests  of  water-colour 
painters  of  the  appointment  of  a  water-colour  painter  in 
association  with  Dr.  Russell  and  Captain  Abney  in  the  work 
of  investigating  the  effects  of  light  of  various  kinds  upon 
water-colour  pigments.' '  On  receipt  of  this  memorial,  a 
committee  of  artists  was  appointed  to  act  with  these  gentle- 
men, which  committee  consisted  of  Sir  F.  Leighton,  Bart., 
P.R.A.,  Mr.  L.  Alma  Tadema,  R.A.,  Mr.  Armstrong,  Mr. 
Sidney  Colvin,  Mr.  Frank  Dillon,  Mr.  Carl  Haag,  Sir  James 
D.  Linton,  Mr.  E.  J.  Poynter,  R.A.,  and  Mr.  Henry  Wallis. 
These  gentlemen  held  four  meetings  previous  to  the  issue  of 
the  first  Report  in  June,  1888. 


REPORT  ON  THE  PERMANENCY  OF  WATER-COLOURS.  255 


This  first  Report  deals  with  the  physical  effects  of  light  on 
water-colour  paintings,  the  investigation  of  the  nature  of  the 
chemical  changes  involved  being  deferred  to  a  second  Report. 
The  Blue-book  is  divided  into  three  sections.  Part  L,  intro- 
ductory, deals  with  the  optical  properties  of  pigments  and  the 
different  characters  of  light  to  which  they  may  be  exposed. 
The  quality  and  character  of  the  light  in  a  picture  gallery  is 
discussed,  and  compared  with  the  light  from  a  clouded  sky  and 
with  direct  sunlight.  It  is  pointed  out  that  pictures  are  as  .  a 
rule  protected  from  direct  sunlight  but  the  greater  part  of  the 
light  which  enters  a  room  is  reflected  sunlight  from  the  clouds. 
Of  course  a  considerable  proportion  of  the  illumination  of  a 
gallery  is  due  to  the  sky  and  this  light  is  bluer  than  reflected 
or  diffused  sunlight.  In  top-lighted  galleries  more  of  this 
blue  light  reaches  the  pictures  than  in  side-lighted  apartments. 
The  artificial  illumination  may  consist  either  of  gaslight  or 
electric-lighting  (arc  or  incandescent).  The  character  and  effect 
of  each  variety  of  light  had  to  be  carefully  ascertained.  As  the 
result  of  photometric  experiments,  the  nature  of  which  is  fully 
described,  the  Reporters  tell  us  that  "  when  the  sun  was  shining 
for  500  hours  the  pigments  (used  as  tests)  received  blue  light 
equal  to  1,875  hours  of  that  of  a  blue  sky  fully  illuminated  when 
the  sun  shone  on  them.  Besides  this,  the  pigments  received  200 
hours  of  blue  sky  towards  sunset  when  the  colours  were  in  the 
shade  which  may  be  taken  as  about  equal  to  50  hours  of  aver- 
age sky-light  illumination"  .  .  .  Making  certain  deductions 
for  degraded  sunlight  and  adding  for  the  hours  of  light  when 
the  sun  was  not  shining,  it  is  estimated  that  "the  pigments 
received  a  total  illumination  equivalent  to  2,225  hours  of 
average  blue  sky,  which  is  made  up  of  the  1,875  hours,  the  50 
hours  and  the  300  hours,"    The  experiments  were  carried  on 


256 


WATER-COLOUR  PAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


until  the  pigments  tested  had  received  the  equivalent  of  10,800 
hours  of  the  blue  sky-light.  Measurements  were  then  under- 
taken to  estimate  what  amount  of  this  blue  sky-light  would 
have  penetrated  to  pictures  hanging  on  the  walls  of  a  top- 
lighted  gallery,  and  it  was  decided  that  by  "  the  exposure  of 
a  picture  inside  the  gallery,"  it  would  receive  "about  T~  of 
that  given  to  the  pigments  during  the  same  time."  But  after 
making  allowance  for  diminished  light  in  the  autumn  and 
winter  (the  experiments  took  place  from  May  to  August),  it  is 
estimated  that  "  it  would  have  taken  100  years  in  the  gallery 
in  question  to  have  arrived  at  the  same  degree  of  fading  as 
that  to  which  the  pigments  had  arrived  up  to  August,  1886." 
Further  in  order  to  secure  the  same  bleaching  effects  as  were 
obtained  in  the  whole  period  of  these  colour  tests,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  expose  the  pigments  for  480  years  in  the  South 
Kensington  galleries.  To  obtain  corresponding  effects  from 
gaslight  they  must  have  been  exposed  continuously  for  9,600 
years. 

The  Second  Part  contains  the  description  and  results  of  ex- 
periments with  various  colours.  For  this  purpose  the  moist 
colours  of  one  firm  were  employed ;  the  colours  were  used 
singly  and  as  a  mixture  of  two  or  more  colours.  The  paper  used 
was  that  of  Whatman.  The  colours  were  applied  in  super- 
imposed washes,  eight  in  number,  giving  a  scale  of  shades 
from  1  to  8.  The  test  slips  were  eight  inches  long  and  two 
inches  wide,  and  were  introduced  into  glass  tubes  open  at  each 
end.  Two  strips  cut  from  the  same  sheet  were  introduced 
into  each  tube,  the  lower  one  being  protected  from  the  light 
by  a  piece  of  American  cloth  tightly  bound  round  the  tube. 
The  exposure  lasted  from  August  14,  1886,  to  March,  1888. 
Certain  colours  vanished  completely,  such  as  carmine,  crimson 


EXPERIMENTS  ON  WATER-COLOURS. 


lake,  and  scarlet  lake  ;  others  faded  or  changed.  The  following 
table  shows  approximately  the  order  of  instability  of  the  single 
colours  : — 


Carmine. 
Crimson  Lake. 
Purple  Madder. 
Scarlet  Lake. 
Payne's  Grey. 
Naples  Yellow. 
Olive  Green. 
Indigo. 

Brown  Madder. 
Gamboge. 
Vandyke  Brown. 
Brown  Pink. 
Indian  Yellow. 


Cadmium  Yellow. 
Leitche's  Blue. 
Violet  Carmine. 
Purple  Carmine. 
Sepia. 
Aureolin. 
Pose  Madder. 
Permanent  Blue. 
Antwerp  Blue. 
Madder  Lake. 
Vermilion. 
Emerald  Green. 
Burnt  Umber. 


Yellow  Ochre. 
Indian  Red. 
Venetian  Red. 
Burnt  Sienna. 
Chrome  Yellow. 
Lemon  Yellow. 
Raw  Sienna. 
Terra  Verte. 
Chromium  Oxide. 
Prussian  Blue. 
Cobalt. 
French  Blue. 
Ultramarine  Ash. 


The  thirteen  colours  in  the  third  column  showed  no  change. 
In  addition  to  the  single  colours  34  sets  of  mixtures  were 
tested,  and  of  these  only  three  remained  from  first  to  last  un- 
changed, although  six  of  the  mixtures  which  contained  Prussian 
blue  regained  their  original  colours  on  being  placed  in  the 
dark  for  six  weeks. 

Similar  experiments,  the  results  of  which  are  given,  were  con- 
ducted with  slips  in  absolutely  dry  air-tight  tubes,  in  tubes 
filled  with  moist  air,  and  in  an  atmosphere  of  moist  hydrogen 
gas.  Investigations  were  also  carried  out  with  the  colours  in 
vacuo  ;  in  this  latter  case  nearly  all  the  colours  remained  un- 
changed. Experiments  were  further  made  on  the  effect  of  the 
electric  arc  light  and  on  the  action  of  heat  ;  also  concerning  the 
results  of  exposure  to  the  products  of  combustion,  at  a 
temperature  of  82°  Fahr.  Mixtures  with  Chinese  white  were 
likewise  tested  in  various  ways,  and  certain  colours  were 
exposed  to  the  effects  of  light  passing  through  red,  green,  and 
blue  glasses.    A  few  selected  colours  were  also  mixed  with 


s 


258 


WATER-COLOUR  FAINTING  IN  ENGLAND. 


oxgall  to  ascertain  its  effect,  but  in  no  case  did  it  appear  to 
have  any  any  injurious  action.  The  colours  were  also  sub- 
mitted to  the  action  of  the  ordinary  diffused  light  of  a 
dwelling-room,  when  the  fading  action  was  of  course  much  less 
apparent. 

In  their  general  conclusions  the  authors  of  the  Report  state 
that  mineral  colours  are  far  more  stable  than  vegetable  colours, 
and  that  the  presence  of  moisture  and  oxygen  is  in  most  cases 
essential  for  a  change  to  be  effected.  "  It  may  be  said  that 
every  pigment  is  permanent  when  exposed  to  light  in  vacuo, 
and  this  indicates  the  direction  in  which  experiments  should 
be  made  for  the  preservation  of  water-colour  drawings."  It  is 
pointed  out  that  "  the  effect  of  light  on  a  mixture  of  colours 
which  have  no  direct  chemical  action  on  one  another  is  that 
the  unstable  colour  disappears  and  leaves  the  stable  colour 
unaltered  appreciably." 

The  authors  state  that  since  it  is  the  blue  light  which  causes 
the  fading,  it  might  be  thought  that  for  the  glazing  of  sky- 
lights a  glass  of  a  slightly  yellow  tint  should  be  adopted,  but 
it  is  pointed  out  that  in  ordinary  diffused  sunlight  this  would 
entail  an  alteration  in  the  brilliancy  of  the  blues  in  a  picture 
and  a  change  in  their  tone. 

The  Third  Part  of  the  Report  treats  of  the  measurement  of 
the  intensity  of  light  reflected  from  pigments — a  subject  of 
incidental  importance  in  these  investigations — and  it  contains 
several  other  appendices,  and  graphic  diagrams. 

The  results  of  the  inquiry  may  be  regarded  as,  upon  the 
whole,  reassuring  and  satisfactory  to  the  admirers  of  the  art  of 
the  water-colour  painter.  If  ordinary  precautions  are  taken  to 
protect  the  drawings  from  direct  sunlight,  they  are  at  any  rate 
quite  as  permanent  as  the  works  of  the  oil-painter,  and  they 


NECESSARY  PRECAUTIONS. 


259 


are  in  truth  exposed  to  fewer  risks  than  his  from  treacherous 
vehicles  or  defective  varnishes.  Rejecting  a  few  colours  which 
have  long  been  known  to  be  unstable,  and  restricting  himself 
to  those  whose  permanence  has  stood  the  test  of  time,  the 
water-colour  painter  can  produce  works  which  will  endure  for 
ages  to  delight  the  future  art  lover  and  bear  evidence  of  his 
skill  as  an  artist. 

Having  thus  very  briefly  traced  the  history  of  the  rise  and 
progress  of  water-colour  painting  in  this  country,  and  having 
brought  before  our  readers  a  few  brief  details  of  the  lives  of 
some  of  the  principal  artists  who  have  practised  it ;  and 
having  further  attempted  to  show  the  changes  which  have 
from  time  to  time  occurred  in  the  methods  of  working,  we 
may  conclude  with  the  hope  that  the  success  of  our  English 
artists  in  the  past  may  induce  many  generations  of  painters 
in  the  future  to  emulate  their  example  and  to  enrich  our 
collections  with  specimens  of  this  beautiful  art. 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abney,  Captain,  his  Report  on 
Colour,  254 

Ackermann,  R.,  86,  109,  136,  151 

Alexander,  W,,  10,  16 

Accompanies  Lord  Macartney's 
mission,  15 

Airport,  Henry  0.,  73,  74,  140 

Angell,  Helen  Cordelia  (Miss  Cole- 
man), 221 

Antiquarian  researches  and  their  in- 
fluence on  water-colours,  9 

Antwerp  Cathedral,  by  F.  Mackenzie, 
136 

Archer,  John  Wykeham,  215 
Arnold,  Mrs.  (H.  Gouldsmith),  140 
Associated  Artists  in  Water -Colours, 
75, 119 

Change  in  title  of  the  Society,  75 
Atkinson,  John  Augustus,  69, 117, 243 

Backhuysen,  7 

Ball,  Plymouth  artist,  213 

Barber,  Charles,  69,  118 

Barker,  Robert,  114 

Barker,  Thomas  (of  Bath),  147 

Barker,  Thomas  Edward,  182 

Barnard,  F.  P.,  38 

Barralet,  artist,  90 

Barret,  George,  66,  68,  72,  73,  78, 101, 
231,  242 

Basire,  engraver,  51 

Beckford,  Mr.,  patron  of  art,  15,  25 

Beechey,  Sir  W.,  48 

Bennett,  W.  J.,  74,  75 

Bentley,  Charles,  201 

Bettes,  3,  5 

Bewick,  Thomas,  155 

Blake,  William,  51,  76 

Blaremberg,  his  palace  garden,  8 

Bleaching  effect  of  sunlight  on  water- 
colours,  255-258 

Bone,  H.  P.,  75 

Bonington,  Richard  Parkes,  141,  235 


Bouvier,  Augustus  Jules,  219 
Bowles,  publisher,  46 
Branwhite,  Charles,  200 
Bright,  Henry,  217 
British  Luxembourg,  248 

Museum  Collection,  245,  24(5 

National  Gallery,  247 
Britton,  John,  F.S.A.,  167,  184,  189 
Brookbank,  Mrs.  (Miss  Scott),  220 
Brooks  (assumed  name  of  Turner),  50 
Browne,  H.  K.  (Phiz),  247 
Bunbury,  152 
Burgess,  John,  200 
Byrne,  Anne  Frances,  70,  106 
Byrne,  John,  107 
Byrne,  William,  106,  148 

Caldecott,  Randolph,  233,  244, 24/ 
Callow,  John,  202,  243 
Calvert,  246 

Campagna,  View  in,  by  Cozens,  27 
Campion,  George  B.,  214 
Carisbrook  Castle,  by  Hearne,  23 
Cattermole,  George,  189-193,  247,248 
Cattermole,  Richard,  189 
Cattle  in  a  Meadow,  by  Chalon,  111 
Cellini  and  the  Robbers,  by  Catter- 
mole, 191 
Century  of  Painters,  5,  29,  60,  106, 

132,  142,  174,  186 
Chalon,  Alfred  Edward,  R.A.,  75, 110 
Chalon,  John  James,  R.A.,  68,69,  71, 

109,118 
Chambers,  George,  198,  243 
Chase,  John,  214 

Chinese  Canal  Scene,  by  Alexander,  20 
Chinnery,  246 
Chisholm,  Alexander,  183 
Cipriani,  48,  50 

Classic  Composition,  by  Barret,  82 
Claude  Lorrain,  59 
Clennell,  Luke,  69,  155 
Cleveley,  John,  47,  243 


264 


INDEX. 


Clevely,  Robert,  48 

Coleman,  Miss  H.  C.,  221 

Coleman,  W.  S  ,  221 

Colour,  lack  of,  in  early  drawings,  11 

tests,  258 

remains  unchanged  in  vacuo, 257, 
258 

measurements  of,  256 
Colvin,  Sidney,  his    Guide  to  the 

British  Museum  collections,  245 
Constable,  John,  R.A.,  26, 58, 245 

His  Bequest,  58,  245,  246 
Constable,  Miss  Isabel,  243,  245 
Cooke,  Bernard,  145 
Cooper,  miniatures  by,  5,  9 
Corbaux,  Fanny,  220 
Cotman,  John  Sell,  156,  218,  243 
Cottage  at  Corwen,  Monmouth,  by 

Dayes,  23 
Cox,  David,  69,  72,  75,  76,  128,  205, 

216,  245,  246  _ 
Cox,  David,  junior,  201 
Cozens,  Alexander,  25 
Cozens,  John  R.,  12,  15,  25,  30,  53,  58 
Creswick's,  Messrs.,  drawing  papers, 

253 

Criddle,  Mrs.  H.,  221 

Cristall,  Joshua,  66,  68,  72,  73,  74,  81, 

99,  126,  243 
Crome,  John,  156, 160 

Danbt,  F.,  A.R.A.,  200 

Danby,  Thomas,  233 

Daniell,  W.,  243 

Darley,  Mat.,  251 

Dayes,  E.,  10, 12,  20,  29,  30,  243 

Describes  early  methods  of  paint- 
ing, 12 
Dean,  Hugh,  98 

Deer  in  Knowle  Park,  by  Hills,  85 
Delamotte,  Philip  Henry,  234 
Delamotte,  William,  68, 110 
De  Wint,  Peter,  69,  119,  170,  241, 
246,  247 

Dixon  bequest  to  the  Bethnal  Green 

Museum,  243 
Dodgson,  George  Haydock,  177, 224 
Dorrell,  Edmund,  69, 71, 117 
Dorrell,  Miss  Jane,  118 
Downman,  246 
Doyle,  R.,  247 

Drawings  at  the  British  Museum,  246 

Dudley  Gallery,  179 

Duncan,  Edward,  177,  223,  242 


Durham  :  Evening,  by  Robson,  164 

Du  Sart,  Dutch  painter,  7 

Dutch  School  represented  in  British 

Museum,  8 
Dutch  Vessel  and  Boats,  by  S.  Owen, 

145 

Dyce  collection  at  South  Kensington, 
25,  26 

Early  methods  of  painting,  9 
Edridge,  Henry,  A.R.A.,  30,  152, 169, 
243,  246 

Effects  of  light  on  colour,  255-257 
Ellison  bequest,  242 
Essex,  Richard  Hamilton,  183 
Evans,  William,  197 
Exhibition  of  Paintings  in  Water- 
Colours,  76 

Fahey,  James,  216 

Field,  Mrs.  T.  H.,  74 

Fielding,  A.  V.  Copley,  69,  71,  72, 

74, 126,  242,  243 
Finch,  Francis  Oliver,  182 
Fisher,  30 

Fitzgibbon,  Lord,  43 
Flatman,  5 

His  method  of  working,  6 
Flaxman,  246 

Francia,  Francois  Thomas  Louis,  30, 

141, 143, 146,  243 
Freebairn,  Robert,  68,  113 
Frossley,  court  painter,  6 
Fyt,  Dutch  painter,  7 

Gainsborough,  Thomas,  R.A.,  248 
Gallery  of  British  Art,  New,  248 
Garrard,  G.,  A  R.A.,  227 
Gastineau,  Henry,  74,  181 
General  Conclusions  in  the  Official 

Report  on  Water  Colours,  258 
General  Exhibition  of  Water-Colour 

Paintings  at  the  Egyptian  Hall , 

178 

Carried  on  by  the  Dudley  So- 
ciety, 179 
George  Morland,  portrait  of,  by  Row- 

landson, 149 
Gilbert,  Sir  John,  R.A.,  236 
Gillies,  Margaret,  221 
Gilpin,  Rev.  W.,  44 
Gilpin,  Sawrey,  R.A.,43 
Gilpin,  William  Sawrey,  44,  66,  68, 

70,  73,  90 


INDEX. 


265 


Girtin,  John,  34,  37 
Girtin,  Thomas,  11,  30,  31,  52,  53, 
113, 146,  245 

Cartridge-paper    preferred  by 
him,  33 

Travelled  with  Mr.  James  Moore, 
34 

Glennie,  Arthur,  201 

Glover,  John,<36, 68, 70, 71,72, 105, 125 

Goodall,  Walter,  235 

Gouldsmith,  Harriet  (Mrs.  Arnold), 

72,  140 
Green,  Benjamin  E.,  216 
Green,  James,  75,  147 
Green,  Mrs.  Mary,  75,  147 
Gresse,  John  Alexander,  48,  243 
Grimm,  S.  H.,  46,  243 
Gros,  Baron,  142 

Guard Eoom,hy  Louis  Haghe, 209,211 
Guash  drawing  on  Continent,  8,  46 
Guide  to  Exhibition  of  Drawings  and 
Sketches  at  British  Museum,  245 

Haghe,  Louis,  208,  242,  247 
Haldimand,  Mrs.,  her  album,  164 
Halt  in  the  Desert,  by  J.  F.  Lewis,  228, 
229 

Hamilton,  William,  R.A.,  43 
Harding,  J.  D.,  74,  193,  194,  227,  254 
Harrison,  Mary,  219 
Havell,  Robert,  223 
Havell,  William,  66,  68,  72,  101,  170, 
223 

Haydocke,  R.,  1,  4,  5 

His  Tract  on  Fainting,  1 
His  description  of  tempera  paint- 
ing^ 

Haydon,  B.  R.,  167 

Hayes,  Edward,  217 

Hayes,  Michael  Angelo,  217 

Heaphy,  Thomas,  68,  69,  71, 108,  220 

Hearne,  Thomas,  23,  58,  243,  246 

Heath,  James,  engraver,  118 

Henderson,  John,  123 

Bequest  to  British  Museum,  247 

Hewett,  Sir  Prcscott  G.,  his  bequest 
of  water-colour  drawings,  244 

Hilliard,  N.,  1,  3,  5,  6,  249 

Hills,  Robert,  66,  68,  72,  82,  164,  170, 
243 

Hilton,  W.,  R.A.,  120 
Historical  collection  at  South  Ken- 
sington, 244 
Hogarth  Club,  232 


Holland,  James,  200,  245  ^ 
Holland,  Water-colour  painting  in,  7 
Holmes,  J.,  72,  74, 139 
Holworthy,  James,  66,  68,  72,  102 
Houghton,  Arthur  Boyd,  225 
Hudson,  44 

Huet-Villiers,  Francois,  75,  142 
Hunt,  William  Henry,  170,  242 

Ibbetson,  J.  C,  16,  49,  246 
Institute    of   Painters   in  Water- 
Colours,  179 

Jackson,  Samuel,  200 
Jenkins,  Joseph  John,  177,  223 
Johnson,  Henry  John,  216 

Kauffman,  Angelica,  50 
Kearney,  William  Henry,  213 

Landseei?,  Sir  Edwin,  R.A.,  193,236 
Landscape  with  Lake,  by  Varley,  95 
Laporte,  G.  H.,  213 
Laporte,  John,  75,  147 
Lawrence,  Sir  Thomas,  P.R.A.,  227 
Lee,  William,  214 
Leech,  John,  247 
Leitch,  William  Leighton,  215 
Leslie,  C.  R.,  R.A.,  25,  26 
Lewis,  John  Frederick,  R.A.,  227, 242, 
246 

Limming,  a  species  of  tempera  paint- 
ing, 4 

Linuell,  John,  72,  135,  228 
Little  Gleaners,  by  Wheatley,  40,  41 
Liverpool  Institute  of  Art,  118 
Llangollen  Bridge,  by  Gresse,  49 
Lofthouse,  Mary  (Miss  Forster),221 
Lunclgren,  Egron  S.,  206 

Macbeth,  R.  W.,  226 
Mackenzie,  Frederick,  72,  136,  242 
Macready,  128 

Magdalen  Bridge    and    Tower,  by 
Turner,  63 

Malton,  T.,  12,  243 

Eleanor  Cross  at  Waltham,  12 

Mantegna,  A.,  Triumphs  of  Julius 
Ccssar,  4 

Mailow,  AY.,  46,  243 

Miniature  painting,  9 

The  Elizabethan  School,  9 

Miniature  room  at  the  Royal  Aca- 
demy, 65 


266 


INDEX. 


Mixtures  of  colours  tested,  257 

Moel  Siabod,  by  Miiller,  205 

Mole,  John  Henry,  218 

Monk,  The,  by  W.  H.  Hunt,  174, 

Frontispiece 
Monkhouse,  W.  0.,  38,  142 
Monro,  Dr.,  aids  Girtin  and  other 

young  artists,  23,  30,  93,  100,  126, 

142,  145,  155,  156,  170 
Mont  St.  Michel,  by  D.  Roberts,  186, 

.187 

Mounts  for  water-colour  drawings,  11 
Morland,  George,  50,  151,  246; 
Mortimer,  J.  H.,  A.E  A,  40,  44,  243 
Miiller,  William  James,  200,  202, 216, 
217 

Mulready's  studies  at  South  Ken- 
sington, 246 

Munn,  Paul  Sandby,  68,  71, 107,  118, 
246 

Murray,  Elizabeth,  220 

Naftel,  Matjd,  239 

Naftel,  Paul  Jacob,  239 

Nash,  architect,  109 

Nash,  Frederick,  69,  76,  115,  242 

Nash,  Joseph,  193 

Nasmyth,  Alexander,  146,  148 

National  Gallery  Collections,  247 

Drawings  by  Cattermole  and 
De  Wint,  247 

Liber  Studiorum,  247 

Turner  drawings,  247 
Nattes,  John  Claude,  66,  68,  69,  98 
Neale,  Hugh,  98 
Nesfield,  William  Andrews,  180 
New  Society  of  Water  Colour  Pain- 
ters, 176 

First  exhibition  in  Exeter  Hall, 
176 

Takes  title  of  Associated  Painters 
in  Water  Colours  in  1833,  176 
Removal  to  Pall  Mall  in  1838, 176 
Increase  in  number  of  members, 
177 

Renamed  the  Institute  of  Pain- 
ters in  Water  Colours  in  1857, 
177 

Amalgamated  with  the  Dudley 
Gallery  in  1883,  177 
New  Water  Colour  Society,  108 
Newcastle  Ferry,  by  L.  Clennell,  156, 
157 

Newton,  Alfred  Pizzey,  232 


Nicholson,  Francis,  66,  68,  72,  76,  90, 
124,  243 

Norwich  Society  of  Artists,  156 

Oakley,  Octavitjs,  199 

Old  London  Bridye,  by  Turner,  61,63 

Oliver,  J.,  3,  5 

Ostade,  A.,  1,  7,  8 

His  method  of  working,  7,  9 
Otter  Hounds,  by  F.  Tayler,  236 
Owen,  Samuel,  75,  145 

Palmer,  Samuel,  182,  228 
Paper  used  by  earlier  artists,  252 
Papworth,  J.,  75 
Pars,  W.,  A.R.A.,  16,  45 
Parsons,  J.  M.,  his  bequest,  244 
Payne,  William,  69,  71,  106,  107 
Penley,  Aaron  Edwin,  212 
Percy,  Dr.,  140 

Permanence  of  certain  colours,  258 
Pether,  engraver,  152 
Phillip,  John,  R.A.,  206 
Phillips,  Thomas,  R.A.,  198 
Pidgeon,  H.  Clark,  214 
Pinwell,  George  John,  217 
Pocock,  Nicholas,  66,  68,  70,  89 
Pont  Aber,  Wales,  by  David  Cox, 
133,  135 

Porch    of   Batisbon   Cathedral,  by 

Prout,  170,  171 
Print  Room,  British  Museum,  82,  246 
Prout,  John  Skinner,  216 
Prout,  Samuel,  73,  167,  216,  242,  243, 

246 

Pugin,  Augustus,  69,  71,  109,  136, 
189 

Pyne,  J.  B.,  202 

Pyne,  William  Henry,  66,  68,  70,  85, 
167 

Pyne's  Somerset  House  Gazette,  91 ; 
his  Pise  and  Progress  of  Water- 
colour  Painting,  100 

Raphael,  Cartoons,  of,  4 
Rayner,  Nancy,  220 
Rayner,  Samuel,  221 
Read,  Samuel,  232 
Reeves,  Thomas  and  William,  251 
Reinagle,  Philip,  R.A.,  114 
Reinagle,  Ramsey  Richard,  68,  69, 
70,  114 

Report  by  Dr.  Russell  and  Captain 
Abney,  254 


INDEX. 


267 


Results  of  the  Inquiry  on  Colours,  258 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  P.R.A.,  246 
Richardson,  Thomas  Miles,  213 
Richardson,  Thomas  Miles  (junr.),235 
Richter,  Henry  John,  72,  74,  139 
Rigaud,  Stephen  Francis,  66,  68,  76, 
105 

Ripon  Cathedral,  by  Girtin,  35,  37 
Riviere,  Henry  Parsons,  214 
Roberson,  Messrs.,  251 
Roberts,  David,  R.A.,  142,  185,  215 
Robertson,  Andrew,  75, 146 
Robins,  Thomas  Sewell,  213 
Robson,  George  Fennell,  73,  74,  101, 

163,  173,  242 
Roget,  J.  L.,  his  History  quoted,  66, 

68,  74,  86,  92,  105,  136,  139,  140, 

169,  173,  177,  223 
Rooker,  M.  A.,  A.R.A.,  45,  243 
Rossetti,  Gabriel  Charles  Dante,  231 
Rowbotham,  Thomas  Leeson,  219 
Rowlandson,  Thomas,  151,  243,  246 
Royal  Academy,  its   influence  on 
water-colour  painting,  24 
Hibernian  Academy,  217 
Institute  of  Painters  in  Water- 
Colours,  179 
Ruskin,  John,  38,  127, 180,  226,  236, 

253 

Russell,  Dr.,  his  Report  on  Water- 
colours,  254 
Rustic  Landscape,  by  Pyne,  87,  89 

Salmon's  Polyr/raphice,  250,  251 

Salvator  Rosa,  44 

Sandby,  Paul,  R.A.,  10,  15,  45,  47 

Sandby,  Thomas,  15 

Scene  in  the  Campagna,  by  Cozens,  25 

Scharf,  G.,  216 

Scott,  friend  of  Hogarth,  46 

Scott,  William,  69,  71,  74,  118 

Seyffarth,  Mrs.  (Louisa  Sharpe),  220 

Shalders,  George,  218 

Sharpe,  Eliza,  220 

Sharpe,  Louisa  (Mrs.  Seyffarth),  220 
Shaw,  Henry,  F.S.A.,  185 
Sheepshanks  collection  at  the  South 

Kensington  Museum,  240 
Shelley,  Samuel,  66,  68,  70,  89 
Shoote,  3,  5 

Singer's    Farm,   near    fiushey,  by 

Edridge,  153, 155 
Sketching  Society,  101,  109,  118 
Skill,  Frederick  John,  218 


Smirke,  Robert,  148 
Smith,  Coke,  227 

Smith,  John  (Warwick),  15,  26,  68, 

69,  72,  76,  108 
Smith,  Miss  E.,  75 
Smith,  Raphael,  120 
Smithy  William,  F.S.A.,  242 

His  drawings   and    bequest  to 
South  Kensington,  242,  243 
Smith,  William  Collingwood,  224 
Society  of  British  Artists,  108 
Society    of    Painters    in  Water- 
Colours — 
Its  foundation  due  to  the  efforts 

of  W.  Wells,  65 
The  first  meeting  of  the  mem- 
bers in  1804,  66 
Roget's  History,  66 
Rules  for  the  administration  of 

the  society,  67 
First  exhibition  in  1805,  67 
Sales  and  profits,  67 
Average  price  of  each  drawing, 
68 

Fellow  exhibitors,  68 
Second  exhibition,  68 
Subsequent  exhibitions,  69 
Mode  of  dividing  profits,  70 
Lady  members,  71 
Declining    popularity    of  the 

exhibitions,  71 
Decision  to  admit  oil-paintings, 

71 

Dissolution  of  first  society,  72 
Reconstruction  of  the  society, 
72 

Society   of    Painters   in    Oil  and 

Water-Colours,  72 
Ninth    exhibition    in  Spring 

Gardens,  73 
The  indifferent  success  of  the 

society,  73 
Moves  to  Egyptian  Hall,  73 
Reversion  to  original  scheme  to 

confine     the    exhibition  to 

water-colours  only,  73,  74 
Alteration    in    constitution  of 

the  society,  74 
Removal  to  Pall  Mall,  74 
Somerset  House  Gazette,  31,  86,  91, 
152 

South  Kensington  Museum,  Histor- 
ical collection  of  water-colour 
drawings,  240  et  seq. 


268 


INDEX. 


Speke  Hall,  Lancashire,  by  J.  Nash, 
194 

Stability,  relative,  of  water-colours, 
257 

Stanfield,  0.,  R.A.,  215 
Stephanoff,  Francis  Philip,  86,  167 
Stephanoff,  James,  73,  164 
Stevens,  Francis,  68,  69,  71,  118 
Stone,  Frank,  A.R.A.,  205 
Storer,  James  Sargant,  185 
Stothard,  Thomas,  R.A.,  50,  51,  246, 
248 

Swaine,  John,  216 

Tayler,  Frederick,  81,  235,  242 
Thompson,  W.  J.,  75 
Thurston,  John,  68,  118 
Tidey,  Henry  F.,  212 
Topham,  Francis  William,  177,  222, 
242 

Topographers  and  their  art,  10 
their  restricted  aims,  11 

Topography,  its  influence  on  water- 
colour  painting,  9 

Torksey  Castle,  by  De  Win t,  121, 124 

Townshend,   the  Rev.  0.  H.,  his 
bequest,  244 

Turner,  Dawson,  159 

Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  R.A.,  26,  30,  37,  38, 
50,  52,  90,  243,  247^ 

Works  with  Girtin  at  the  house 

of  Dr.  Monro,  53 
Studies  under  Hardwick,  53 
His  early  drawings,  53 
His  sketches  at  the  National 

Gallery,  54 
His  method  of  painting,  54 
Discards  white  as  a  pigment,  57 
The  three  periods  of  his  art,  58 
Copies  Cozens  and  Hearne,  58 
Produces  the  Liber  Studiorum,  59 
His  death  and  burial,  59 
His  bequests,  60 
Account  of  his  art,  60 

Turner,  William,  69,  72,  116 

Uwins,  Thomas,  69,  72,  102,  115 

Vacher,  Charles,  218 

Vol  d'Aosta,  by  John  Smith,  29 


Value  of  Italian  travel  to  artists,  11 
Yanderdort,  his  catalogue  of  pic- 
tures, 6 

Van  Eyck,  use  of  oil  as  medium,  4 
Varley,  Cornelius,  66,  68,  72,  73,  97 
Varley,  John,  30,  66,  68,  72,  93,  116, 

124,  126,  131,  136,  170,  228,  243 
Vasari,  3,  4 
Vernet,  Horace,  235 
View  of  Ben  Lomond,  by  Copley 

Fielding,  128,  129 
Vincent,  George,  160 

Walker,  Frederick,  A.R.A.,  226 
Walker,  William,  74,  75,  148 
Ward,  James,  246 
Warren,  Henry,  K.  L.,  208,  212 
Water-colour  painting,  divided  into 

three  periods,  2 
Watts,  Walter  Henry,  75,  147 
Webber,  J.,  R.A.,  10,  20 
Weber,  Otto,  206 
Wehnert,  Edward  Henry,  211 
Wells,  William  Frederick,  65,  66,  68, 

70,  90 

West,  Sir  B.,  P.R.A.,  110 
Westall,  Richard,  R.A.,  119 
Westall,  William,  A.R.A.,  69,  75,  119 
Whatman's,  Messrs.,  drawing  paper, 
253 

Wheat-ley,  Francis,  R.A.,  39,  243 
Whichelo,  John.  183 
Whittaker,  James  W.,  201 
Wild,  Charles,  69,  71,  74,86, 184,  243 
Williams,  H.  W.,  75 
Williams,  Penry,  183 
Willis,  Henry  Brittan,  233 
Wilson,  Andrew,  75,  148 
Wilson,  Richard,  R.A.,  59,  113 
Windmill,  by  Cotman,  160, 161 
Windsor  Castle,  by  Havell,  102, 103 
Winsor  &  Newton,  Messrs.,  252 
Wood,  William,  75,  146 
Woollett,  engraver,  45 
Wright,  J.,  miniature  painter,  198 
Wright,  John  Masey,  182 
Wright,  John  William,  183,  198 

ZUCCARELLI,  48 

Zucchi,  43 


RICHARD  CLAY  AND  SONS,  LIMITED,  LONDON  AND  BUNGAY. 


ILLUSTRATED  HAND-BOOKS  OF  ART  HISTORY 
OF  ALL  AGES  AND  COUNTRIES. 


EDITED  BY 


E.  J.  POYNTER,  R.A.,  Professor  ROGER  SMITH,  F.R.I.B.A.,  and  others. 


EACH  IN  CROWN  8\rO,  CLOTH  EXTRA,  PER  VOLUME,  5*. 


ARCHITECTURE :  CLASSIC  AND  EARLY  CHRISTIAN.  By 

Professor  T.  Roger  Smith  and  John  Slater,  B.A.  Comprising  the  Egyptian,  As- 
syrian, Greek,  Roman,  Byzantine,  and  Early  Christian.  Illustrated  with  upwards  of  200 
Engravings,  including  the  Parthenon,  the  Erechtheum  at  Athens,  the  Colosseum,  the 
Baths  of  Diocletian  at  Rome,  Saint  Sophia  at  Constantinople,  the  Sakhra  Mosque  at 
Jerusalem,  &c. 

ARCHITECTURE:  GOTHIC  AND  RENAISSANCE.    By  Pro- 

fes  or  T.  Roger  Smith  and  Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.A.  Showing  the  progress  of  Gothic 
Architecture  in  England,  France,  Germany,  Italy,  and  Spain,  and  of  Renaissance  Archi- 
tecture in  the  same  Countries.  Illustrated  with  more  than  100  Engravings,  including 
many  of  the  principal  Cathedrals,  Churches,  Palaces,  and  Domestic  Buildings  on  the 
Continent. 

SCULPTURE  :  EGYPTIAN,  ASSYRIAN,  GREEK,  AND  RO- 
MAN. By  George  Redford,  F.R.C.S.  With  160  Illustrations  of  the  most  celebrated 
Statues  and  Bas-Reliefs  of  Greece  and  Rome,  a  Map  of  Ancent  Greece,  and  a  Chrono- 
logical List  of  Ancient  Sculptors  and  their  Works. 

SCULPTURE:  RENAISSANCE  AND  MODERN.    By  Leader 

Scott.  Illustrated  with  numerous  Engravings  of  Works  of  Ghiberti,  Donatelli,  Delia 
Rolbia,  Cellini,  and  other  celebrated  Sculptors  of  the  Renaissance.  And  with  Examples 
of  Canova,  Thorwaldsen,  Flaxman,  Chantrey,  Gibson,  and  other  Sculptors  of  the  18th 
and  19th  centuries. 

PAINTING :  CLASSIC  AND  ITALIAN.    By  Edward  J.  Poyn- 

ter,  R.A.,  and  Percy  R.  Head,  B.A.  Including  Painting  in  Egypt,  Greece,  Rome., 
and  Pompeii ;  the  Renaissance  in  Italy ;  Schools  of  Florence,  Siena,  Rome,  Padua,  Venice, 
Perugia,  Ferrara,  Parma,  Naples,  and  Bologna.  Illustrated  with  80  Engravings  of  many 
of  the  finest  Pictures  of  Italy. 

PAINTING:  SPANISH  AND  FRENCH.    By  Gerard  Smith, 

Exeter  Coll.,  Oxon.  Including  the  Lives  of  Ribera,  Zurbaran,  Velazquez,  and  Murillo  ; 
Poussin,  Claude  Lorrain,  Le  Sueur,  Watteau,  Chardin,  Greuze,  David,  and  Prud'hon ; 
Ingres,  Vernet,  Delaroche,  and  Delacroix;  Corot,  Diaz,  Rousseau,  and  Millet;  Courbet, 
Regnault,  Troyon,  and  many  other  celebrated  artists.    With  80  Illustrations. 

PAINTING :  GERMAN,  FLEMISH,  AND  DUTCH.    By  H.  J. 

Wilmot  Buxton,  M.A.,  and  Edward  J.  Poynter,  R.A.  Including  an  account  of  the 
Works  of  Albrecht  Diirer,  Cranach,  and  Holbein  ;  Van  Eyck,  Van  der  Wcyden,  and 
Memlinc;  Rubens,  Snyders,  and  Van  Dyck;  Rembrandt,  Hals,  and  Jan  Steen;  Wynants, 
Ruisdael,  and  Hobbema  ;  Cuyp,  Potter,  and  Berchem  ;  Bakhuisen,  Van  de  Velde,  Van 
Huysum,  and  many  other  celebrated  painters.    Illustrated  with  100  Engravings. 

PAINTING  :  ENGLISH  AND  AMERICAN.    By  H.  J.  WlLMOT 

Buxton,  M.A.,  and  S.  R.  Koehler.  Including  an  Account  of  the  Earliest  Paintings 
known  in  England ;  the  works  of  Holbein,  Antonio  Moro,  Lucas  de  Heere,  Zuccaro,  and 
Marc  Garrard;  the  Hilliards  and  Olivers;  Van  Dyck,  Lely,  and  Kneller ;  Hogarth, 
Reynolds,  and  Gainsborough ;  West,  Romney,  and  Lawrence  ;  Constable,  Turner,  and 
Wilkie'  Maclise,  Mulready,  and  Landseer,  and  other  celebrated  painters.  And  a 
Chapter  on  Painting  in  America.    With  80  Illustrations. 


ILLUSTRATED  BIOGRAPHIES  OF  THE 
GREAT  ARTISTS. 


Each  volume  contains  many  Illustrations including,  when  possible,  a  Portrait 
of  the  Master,  and  is  strongly  bound  in  decorated  cloth, 

CROWN  8VO,  3*.  6d.   PER  VOLUME,  UNLESS  MARKED  OTHERWISE. 


ENGLISH  PAINTERS. 
SIR  JOSHUA  REYNOLDS.     By  F.  S.  Pulling,  M.A.     From  the  most 

recent  Authorities.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  Penelope  Boothby — The  Strawberry 
Girl— Muscipula— Mrs.  Siddons — The  Duchess  of  Devonshire — Age  of  Innocence — Sim- 
plicity— and  10  other  Paintings. 

WILLIAM  HOGARTH.    By  Austin  Dobson.    From  Recent  Researches. 

Illustrated  with  Reproductions  of  Groups  from  the  celebrated  Engravings  of  the  Rake's 
Progress — Southwark  Fair — The  Distressed  Poet — The  Enraged  Musician — Marriage 
a-la-Mode — March  to  Finchley — and  10  other  Subjects. 

GAINSBOROUGH   AND   CONSTABLE.     By  G.  Brock-Arnold,  M.A. 

Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  the  Blue  Boy — Mrs.  Graham — The  Duchess  of  Devonshire 
— and  5  others  by  Gainsborough ;  and  A  Lock  on  the  Stour — Salisbury  Cathedral — The 
Cornfield — The  Valley  Farm — and  4  other  Pictures,  by  Constable. 

SIR  THOMAS  LAWRENCE  AND  GEORGE  ROMNEY.    By  Lord  Ronald 

Gowek,  F.S.A.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  the  Duchess  of  Sutherland — Lady  Peel 
—Master  Lambton— and  Nature,  by  Lawrence ;  The  Parson's  Daughter— and  other 
Pictures,  by  Romney.    Price  2s.  6d. 

TURNER.  By  Cosmo  Monkhouse.  From  recent  Investigations.  Illus- 
trated with  Engravings  of  Noiham  Castle — The  Devil's  Bridge — The  Golden  Bough — The 
Fighting  Temeraire — Venice — The  Shipwreck — Alps  at  Daybreak — and  11  other  Paintings. 

SIR  DAVID  WILKIE:  A  Memoir.    By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.  Illustrated 

with  Engravings  of  Groups  from  the  Rent  Day — The  Village  Politicians — The  Penny 
Wedding — Blind  Man's  Buff— Duncan  Gray — The  Cut  Finger — and  4  other  Paintings. 

SIR  EDWIN  LANDSEER:  A  Memoir.    By  F.  G.  Stephens.  Illustrated 

with  17  Facsimiles  of  Etchings  after  Landseer's  designs  :  among  others,  Low  Life — A 
Shepherd's  Dog — Four  Irish  Greyhounds — Return  from  Deerstalking — Mare  and  Foal — 
Sheep  and  Lambs — and  Facsimiles  of  the  Woburn  Game-cards. 


ITALIAN  PAINTERS  AND  SCULPTORS. 
GIOTTO.    By  Harry  Quilter,  M.A.   From  recent  Investigations  at  Padua, 

Florence,  and  Assisi.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  the  Presentation  in  the  Temple — 
The  Entombment  of  Christ — Obedience,  and  other  Frescoes— Bas-reliefs  on  the  Cam- 
panile, Florence — and  a  Coloured  Plate  of  the  Madonna  at  Assisi. 

ERA  ANGELICO  AND  THE  EARLY  PAINTERS  OE  FLORENCE.    By  C.  M. 

Phillimore.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  the  Resuscitation  of  the  King's  Son,  by 
Masaccio — The  Adoration  of  the  Kings,  by  Fra  Angelico — The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin, 
by  Filippo  Lippi — The  Coronation  of  the  Virgin,  by  Botticelli — and  13  other  Paintings. 

FRA  BARTOLOMMEO,  ALBERTINELLI,  AND  ANDREA  DEL  SARTO. 

By  Leader  Scott.  Illustrated  with  the  Enthronement  of  the  Virgin— St.  Mark— 
Salvator  Mundi,  by  Fra  Bartolommeo — The  Virgin  and  Saints,  by  Albertinelli — The 
Madonna  del  Sacco,  by  Del  Sarto — and  10  other  Paintings. 

GHIBERTI  AND  DONATELLO.  By  Leader  Scott.  Illustrated  with  En- 
gravings of  the  Marble  Pulpit  of  Pisa — The  Bronze  Gate  of  the  Baptistery  at  Florence, 
by  Ghiberti  (4  pages) — The  St.  George  of  Donatello — and  10  other  examples  of  Sculpture,. 
Price  2s.  6d. 


DELLA  ROBEIA,  CELLINI,  AND  OTHER  CELEBRATED  SCULPTORS  OF 

THE  15TH  AND  i6th  CENTURIES.  By  Leader  Scott.  With  Illustrations  of  the 
Singers  and  other  Bas-Reliefs,  by  Luca  della  Robbia — Perseus,  by  Cellini — Mercury,  by 
Giovanni  da  Bologna — and  many  other  Statues.    Price  2s.  td. 

MANTEGNA  AND  FRANCIA.    By  Julia  Cartwright.    Illustrated  with 

Engravings  of  Lodovico  Gonzaga  and  his  Son — Part  of  the  Triumphs  of  Caesar — The 
Madonna  della  Vittoria,  by  Mantegna — The  Virgin  and  Saints — The  Deposition — A  Pieta, 
by  Francia — and  8  other  Paintings. 

LEONARDO  DA  VINCI.    By  Dr.  J.  Paul  Richter.    Illustrated  with  En- 

gravings  of  the  Last  Supper — I  he  Virgin  and  St.  Anne — Mona  Lisa — The  Vierge_  aux 
Rochers— The  Battle  of  Anghiari— Head  of  Christ— and  9  other  Paintings  and  Drawings. 

MICHELANGELO  BUONARROTI.     By   Charles  Clement.  Illustrated 

with  Engravings  from  the  Frescoes  of  the  Last  Judgment — The  Prophet  Isaiah — The 
Creation  of  Man— Pisan  Soldiers  bathing  in  the  Arno — and  of  the  Statues  of  Moses — The 
Madonna  of  Bruges— The  Tombs  of  Lorenzo  and  Giuliano  de'  Medici — and  10  other 
Works  in  Painting  and  Sculpture. 

RAPHAEL.  By  N.  D'Anvers.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  Lo  Sposalizio 
— La  Belle  Jardiniere — The  School  of  Athens— Madonna  di  Foligno — St.  C  ecilia— Ma- 
donna della  Tenda — Madonna  della  Sedia— Battle  of  Constantine— The  Transfiguration — 
and  14  other  Paintings. 

TITIAN.  By  R.  F.  Heath,  M.A.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  La  Bella 
di  Tiziano — The  Tribute-Money — The  Assumption  of  the  Virgin — The  Pesaro  Altar-piece 
— St.  Peter  Martyr — Titian's  Daughter — and  8  other  Paintings. 

TINTORETTO.  By  W.  R.  Osler.  From  Investigations  at  Venice.  Illus- 
trated with  Engravings  of  the  Miracle  of  the  Slave — The  Marriage  at  Cana — The  Entomb* 
ment — The  Crucifixion — The  Betrothal  of  St.  Catherine,  &c. 

CORREGGIO.  By  M.  Compton  Heaton.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of 
La  Notte — II  Giorno — Marriage  of  St.  Catherine— St.  John  the  Evangelist — The  Madonna 
at  Dresden — and  5  other  Paintings.    Price  2^.  6d. 


SPANISH  PAINTERS. 
VELAZQUEZ.    By  E.  Stowe,  M.A.    Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  Isabel 

of  Spain — Thj  Duke  of  Olivarez — The  Water-Carrier — The  Topers — The  Surrender  of 
Breda — The  Maids  of  Honour — View  of  the  Villa  Medici — and  8  other  Paintings. 

MURILLO.    By  Ellen  E.  Minor.    A  Memoir  derived  from  recent  Works. 

.  Illustrated  with  8  Engravings  after  the  Master's  celebrated  Paintings,  including  the 
Immaculate  Conception,  in  the  Louvre — The  Prodigal  Son,  at  Stafford  House — The  Holy 
Family  (with  the  scodella),  at  Madrid — A  Portrait  of  the  Artist — and  other  works. 
Price  2s .  6d. 

GERMAN  PAINTERS. 
ALBRECHT  DURER.    By  R.  F.  Heath,  M.A.    Illustrated  with  Engravings 

of  the  Conversion  of  St.  Eustace — The  Trinity — The  Great  White  Horse — The  Knight, 
Death,  and  the  Devil — SS.  John  and  Peter — SS.  Paul  and  Mark — Christ  taking  Leave  of" 
His  Mother — and  12  other  Paintings,  Eng  avings,  and  Woodcuts. 

THE  LITTLE  MASTERS  OF  GERMANY.     By  W.  B.  Scott.  Altdorfer, 

Hans  Sebald  Beham,  Bartel  Beham,  Aldegrever,  Pencz,  Bink,  and  Brosamer.  Illustrated 
with  Engravings  of  the  Emperor  Charles  V.,  by  Bartel  Beham — The  Madonna  of  the 
Crescent  Moon,  by  Aldegrever — and  several  examples  of  Decorative  Ornament. 

HANS  HOLBEIN.    By  Joseph  Cundall.    Illustrated  with  Engravings  of 

the  Meyer  Madonna — Archbishop  Warham— The  Family  of  Sir  Thomas  More — Hubert 
Morett — Henry  VIII. — and  Examples  of  the  Woodcuts  in  the  Praise  of  Folly — The  Dance 
of  Death— The  Bible  Cuts,  &c. 

OVERBECK :  A  Memoir.    By  J.  Beavington  Atkinson.    Comprising  his 

Early  Years  in  Liibeck,  Studies  at  Vienna,  and  Settlement  at  Rome.  Illustrated  with 
Engravings  of  Christ  Blessing  Little  Children— Christ  Bearing  the  Cross — The  Ei.tomb- 
ment— The  Holy  Family  with  the  Lamb,  &c. 


FLEMISH  AND  DUTCH  PAINTERS. 


REMBRANDT.  By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of 
the  Lesson  on  Anatomy—  lhe  Descent  from  the  Cross — Saskia — The  Night  Watch — 
Burgomaster  Six — lhe  Three  Trees -Ephraim  Bonus — and  other  celebrated  Paintings 
and  Etchings. 

RUBENS.  By  C.  W.  Kett,  M.  A.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  from  Rubens 
and  Isabella  Brandt — The  Descent  from  the  Cross — Rubens's  Two  Sons — Henry  TV.  and 
Marie  de  Medicis — The  Chateau  de  Steen— Le  Chapeau  de  Poil — and  10  other  Paintings. 


VAN  DYCK  AND  HALS.    By  P.  R.  Head,  B.A.    Illustrated  with  En- 


gravings of  the  Syndic  Meerstraten — Ecce  Homo  —  Charles  I.  and  the  Marquis  of 
Hamilton — Henrietta  Maria,  with  Princes  Charles  and  James,  &c,  by  Van  Dyck ;  and 
Hals  and  Lisbeth  Reyners — The  Banquet  of  Arquebusiers — A  Cavalier,  &c.,  by  Hals. 

THE  FIGURE  PAINTERS  OF  HOLLAND.    By  Lord  Ronald  Gower, 

F. S.A.  Illustrated  with  Engravings  of  Paternal  Advice,  by  Terborch — The  Hunchback 
Fiddler,  by  Adrian  van  Ostade — Inn  S  able,  by  Wouwerman — Dancing  Dog,  by  Steen— 
Vegetable  Market,  by  Metsu— Dutch  Family,  by  Ver  Meer,  &c. 


FRENCH  PAINTERS. 
WATTEATT.     By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.     Illustrated  with  Engravings  of 


Fetes  Galantes,  Portraits,  Studies  from  the  Life,  Pastoral  Subjects,  and  Designs  foi 
Ornament.    Price  2s.  6d. 

VERNET  AND  DELAROCHE.  By  J.  RuUTZ  Rees.  Illustrated  with  En- 
gravings of  the  Trumpeter's  Horse — The  Death  of  Poniatovvski — The  Battle  of  Fon- 
tenoy,  and  5  others,  by  Vernet ;  and  Richelieu  with  Cinque  Mars  and  De  Thou — Death 
of  the  Due  de  Guise— Charles  I.  and  Cromwell's  Soldiers — and  a  large  Engraving  of  the 
Hemicycle  of  the  Palais  des  Beaux-Arts,  by  Delaroche. 

MEISSONIER:  a  Memoir.     By  J.  W.  Mollett,  B.A.    Illustrated  with 

Engravings  from  the  Chess  Players— La  Rixe — The  Halt— The  Reader — The  Flemish 
Smoker — and  Examples  of  M.  Meissonier's  Book  Illustrations.    Price  2s.  6d. 


.  From  the  Times: — "Few  things  in  the  way  of  small  books  upon  great  subjects,  avowedly 
cheap  and  necessarily  brief,  have  been  hitherto  so  well  done  as  these  biographies  of  the  Greai 
Masters  in  painting.  They  afford  just  what  a  very  large  proportion  of  readers  in  these  hurry 
ing  times  wish  to  be  provided  with — a  sort  of  concentrated  food  for  the  mind." 


New  edition,  introduction  by  Professor  Roger  Smith,  with  76  new 
engravings,  cr.  8vo,  696  pp.,  ior.  6d.;  half  morocco,  gilt  edges,  suitable  for 
prizes,  &c,  12s. 

This  work  may  also  be  had  in  two  parts,  in  plainer  binding  : — 


ELEMENTARY  HISTORY  OF  ART. 


By  N.  D'ANVERS. 


I.  Architecture^and  Sculpture.  

II.  Painting  :  ancient  and  modern 


LONDON:  SAMPSON  LOW,  MARSTON  &  Co.,  Ld. 


